Score
by Zoe1105
Summary: Syaoran Li, captain of the Tomoeda High School soccer team and, according to him, soon to be professional soccer player. He has always loved playing soccer. Everything was right till he made a decision that would change his life completely.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Card Captor Sakura. I sadly just own the plot although if the owner wishes to give me Syaoran as a gift I would take him in a heartbeat.**

_**"Sometimes when things are falling apart it's for the best. It might seem like the end but actually it can be the beginning of greater things to come. Things that you were hoping for and praying for can now enter into your life. Prepare for it."**_**~ Brigitte**

**Chapter 1****  
><strong>**"Letting Go"**

"_The referee has added two more minutes on the clock. The ball goes to Kyu on the right corner. He's trying to get over James who's been phenomenal this evening. They're both battling the ball. Kyu passes the ball to, oh wait! Takashi steals it! He passes the ball to... no he faked a pass and kicks the ball straight to the middle. He finds Li in the middle! Li just passed two Wild Boars middle backs and he's all alone in the middle! Jin's right behind! He's trying to catch him! Li just entered the danger zone! I don't think Jin will make it! Here's Li, he kicks and Goooooaaaaallllllllll! Tomoeda High wins the match 1-0 with less than a minute on the clock." The announcer emotionally screamed down the microphone. "Unbelievable Elliot! This kid is amazing. As soon as he saw Takashi with the ball, he knew exactly what he needed to do and just went for it."_

"_Oh I agree with you Jack and what a speed! This kid is one of the best soccer players I've ever seen. And to think he just turned eighteen… The kid's a superstar. I can definitely say that we will all be watching his career with great expectation in the near future."_

"_Oh, I couldn't have put it better myself Elliot! Tomoeda High wins 1-0 with less than a minute to go. What a game folks!"_

"_At this rate, I think we'll be seeing Tomoeda High in that final for the first time."_

Syaoran Li, what else could be said. The soccer captain of Tomoeda High Falcons had done it again. One more win for the team he called a family. Since childhood, being a soccer professional player had been his dream and he was just on the right track to achieve it. His discipline and persistence had led him to the player he was today. Many spectators and commentators talked about his game and acknowledge his mind and passion when playing it. Words like prodigy or genius were always mentioned whenever commentators were talking about his way of playing.

But even so, this was not enough for his father. He had never approved of Syaoran playing soccer. His dream had always been to have a son that would take care of the company once he grew up. But it was his mother the one that saved Syaoran from been inside the business right now, for it was her who ended up convincing Syaoran's father to let him play. Knowing her husband had always been a business man, she stroke up a deal to let Syaoran play all the soccer he wanted to play till high school. She had convinced his father into letting him stay with Wei in Tomoeda at least until he graduated. But after that, he had to pick a university in which he would study a profession of his father's choosing that would benefit Li Enterprises so that he could take the company after finishing his studies. That was the deal. But for now, he was just enjoying his senior year playing soccer and being with the light of his eyes… his girlfriend Sakura.

"Hey man, great game!" Eriol said while jogging over to where Syaoran was along with Takashi on his side. 'The perfect soccer trio' they were called by other teams whenever they played against Tomoeda High. The three of them were best friends inside the field as well as outside.

"Whoo! I'm beat. A nice shower and hanging out with my baby for the rest of the day." Takashi said.

"That's all you do Takashi aside from watching historical movies and inventing stories…" Syaoran sarcastically arched a brow.

"Hey, I'll let you know that's not all I do with Chiharu. I can tell you about the time we went to the park and we found ourselves in front of-"

"Whatever man!" Syaoran rolled his eyes and started walking towards the locker room.

Takashi was Chiharu's boyfriend. They had been together for almost two years now. Many guys wondered how he lasted so long with her because of all his stories but deep down Syaoran knew Chiharu loved to hear them and laugh at his creative imagination.

"Hey man!" Kyu jogged and catch up to Syaoran. "Great game today."

Syaoran laughed and smirked. "I told you we'd beat you! You should have changed schools for Tomoeda when you had the chance. I can smell the finals already."

"Yeah yeah whatever. Next time you will not be so lucky. If it wasn't for Takashi you would have ended up been scoreless in this game."

Syaoran laughed at his comment. "Are you sure about that? I don't know. I keep thinking that I probably would have found a way to score anyways."

Kyu shook his head but smiled none the less. He had known Li since the eighth grade. They were both summoned to play on China's junior national team. Needless to say the passion both of them had for the game helped them become friends easily. With his looks he created a new little fan club of girls crushing all over him wherever he go. He was about six feet, of strong build, and little natural tan, with brown eyes and dark hair. It was not too hard to imagine why he had girls all over the school drooling every time they saw him. But it wasn't until Kyu started dating Meiling that their friendship grew to where it stands today.

It wasn't easy for Kyu since, let's face it, Meiling had never been an easy going person. Add to this the fact that Syaoran wasn't too happy about their relationship when they started dating and you get a pissed Kyu and a lot of time spent arguing before he could finally start dating Meiling officially. But after a year of pursuing Meiling, Syaoran saw that Kyu's feelings for her were real and helped him a little. Finally about a year ago she decided to give him a chance and they'd been together ever since.

"Well man, I'll see you later. My girlfriend must be waiting for me." Kyu said while smirking.

"Yeah, we all know how she gets when she has to wait." Syaoran sarcastically said.

Kyu laughed. "I'll see you around." He turned around and walked away towards the visitors' locker room.

Syaoran started to walk towards his locker room with Eriol and Takashi when he heard his name been called by none other than Mark.

"Li!" Syaoran turned around to find Mark approaching them. He was a blonde, 5'8 built man who could very well be mistaken for a football player but he actually played soccer. He recently played for another school but was friends with them because he was the captain of the national soccer team. "Hey man, nice game to all of you."

"Thanks Mark. We'll see you inside." Eriol said walking into the changing rooms with Takashi behind him.

"So, did you just come to scout your competition for the finals or were you just enjoying the game?" Mark laughed at Syaoran's question.

"You've always been so competitive… but as it is I was just enjoying. Scouting I would have to actually do IF you get to the finals which, let me point out to you, you're not there yet."

"Well Mark, with a record of 13-2 it's no surprise who is making it to the finals…" Syaoran responded with a smirk.

"Do I need to remind you to whom you lost those two games?" Syaoran glared at him. "Actually, I didn't come down here to gloat although you deserve it for being so arrogant. But anyways, did you receive the message coach sent us yesterday?"

"Yeah, we all did."

"Are you thinking of going?"

"Well, I'm planning on training for myself until we finish school season and then I'll reincorporate myself with the national team. I think Eriol and Kyu would probably do the same. Why?"

"Well I spoke to coach and he said he wanted to start early this year."

"Yeah?"

"You know when you get that feeling were all of these practices and sacrifices will be worth doing so in the end?" Mark asked while Syaoran nodded his way. "This is our year Syaoran. I can feel it. That cup will be ours this year."

"Have you started training with coach already?" Syaoran asked.

Mark nodded. "This is our year Syaoran. I am telling you that it is."

"Then I'm sure it is. Let our coach know that Eriol and Kyu will probably do the same workout as me the next time you see him. Also, tell him not to worry. I will make sure they are training enough to be ready."

"Okay man. I'll see you at finals then." Syaoran turned around only to find Sakura leaning on the wall with her hands crossed.

"Hey handsome!" She sweetly greeted him. Syaoran smiled at her and suddenly he felt his day was complete.

"Babe, what are you doing down here?" She walked to him and put her hands around his shoulders.

"What? Can't I visit my hot boyfriend in the changing rooms?" She seductively smiled at him.

He chuckled before putting his hands around her waist. "Sak… You're been evil with me." He said trying her lips before deepening the kiss. The kiss left them both breathless. He kept his forehead touching hers before asking her "Are you coming to the celebration party with me?"

She took a deep breath before backing away a little so that she could look him in the eyes. She knew he wouldn't take the news too well, but here it go. "I wanted to talk to you about that. I need to go see some places Kate listed for the fund-raising we have to do for the class very early tomorrow." The minute the words were out of her mouth he sighed before looking away.

"So you're not coming?" He asked.

"I don't know yet." He took a deep breath. This was the way it had been lately, always arguing till it got too out of control and one of them would end it. He got her hands away from his shoulders and looked at her again.

"Sakura, you know I hate it when you do this. You told me you were coming with me yesterday."

"I know baby, but is just that this came up and well, what do you want me to do Syaoran? Being class president forces me to take care of these things."

"I know what you must do as class president, but can't you pick another day to do this? I mean, I told you about this a week ago and we talked about this yesterday. You told me you were coming with me."

"It is not so easy to cancel Syaoran. When Kate called in to make the appointments most of them were already booked. So I need to go see these places early tomorrow morning and choose one by this upcoming week. So I don't know if it's such a good idea to go out tonight knowing I have to get up really early tomorrow."

"So you prefer to go see these places before spending time with your boyfriend?"

"Don't do this. You know as well as I do that is a lie. I would rather go out with you." Sakura desperately tried to explain to him.

"Then come with me to this party. Since you started the whole president thing we haven't been able to be together like before. Every time we're together we spend less time with each other because you're always so busy. We don't go out like we used to anymore."

"You know I can't Syaoran. Why can't you understand it?"

"Understand what Sakura? That I've been replaced by a position at school?"

This time she was the one that looked away and sighed. "Forget it. I can't talk to you when you're like this." She said signaling that this conversation was over for now.

"Fine. I'll call you when I get to my car." With that he turned around and walked into the changing rooms. To say that he was mad was an understatement. Pissed would definitely be the right word to describe his feelings now.

~ o ~

"How are you so sure that I won't have to listen to all his arrogance in here?" Kyu asked from behind Meiling. The words Bistro Café could be seen from the other side of the road. They waited for all cars to pass by and started walking towards it. After every game it had become a tradition to come and hangout at this place.

"We'll just be a few minutes, I promise." She smiled sweetly at him.

He put his arm around her shoulder while crossing the street. "Oh really…? You know what I think?"

She shook her head while waiting for him to continue. "I think your lies, baby, are getting worse by the minute."

She laughed and waited for him to open the door for her. As she stepped inside, she looked for her friends. "I would never lie to you…" she joked.

"Right…" he spotted their friends and took Meiling's hand to walk towards them.

"Hey guys!" Eriol greeted.

"Hey!" Kyu greeted their friends as always. "Do you want the same Meiling?"

She nodded taking the seat next to Takashi while Kyu went to make their orders. "Where are Syaoran and Sakura?"

"I texted him a couple of minutes ago but he hasn't answered yet." Takashi said.

"Not even sure he's coming." Eriol said as an afterthought while taking a sip of his smoothie.

Eriol's comment caught Meiling's attention. Syaoran and Sakura were the ones that had started this nice tradition, Sakura more than Syaoran actually. She had dragged him for the first time to the café after they had lost the chance to be in the finals last year. She said it was to make him let go of everything about the game and concentrate on his life outside of the field. He had hated it at first but it worked. A couple of weeks after, Tomoyo and Eriol added themselves with the excuse of wanting something to do after the games aside from going home. They invited Takashi and Chiharu and finally Meiling and Kyu started to come at the end. So it had become sort of like a tradition after every game to meet at Bistro Café downtown. "Why?" she asked.

"He had a fight with Sakura." Eriol answered.

"Again?" she asked. "What is it this time?"

"Well, he said something about her not having enough time for him anymore and well… you can imagine the rest."

She sighed. "I can't believe their fighting again."

"Well, you know he's got a point." Takashi started saying but when he saw Chiharu's menacing face he put his hands up to start explaining what he meant. "Wait, don't kill me yet, but I've heard she has cancelled some of their dates just because she has work to do. Don't you think he has a right to be mad?"

"Do I get mad at you for cancelling a date because you have to watch film, Takashi?" Chiharu asked.

"No, but that's different."

"Really… tell me how? To play soccer is an activity you do at school. Watching film is part of the duties you must do in order to stay on the team. How can I get mad at you for that? In her case, looking for places is part of her duties as class president. Now tell me, how is it different?"

"Well, what did I miss?" Kyu said while handing Meiling her cappuccino.

She raised a brow before sarcastically saying "Chiharu putting the periods where they belong."

"You go Chiharu!" Tomoyo cheered.

Takashi looked with disbelief in his eyes towards both of his teammates. "Aren't you going to defend my case?"

"No man, you're alone on this one." Eriol said and laughed at his friend.

"Hey Meiling, I heard there was a fashion show next month. Do you want to come? Chiharu's coming. The only ones that haven't confirmed yet are you and Sakura." Tomoyo excitedly said.

"Sure, count me in. When is it?"

"It's on Saturday the 18th at Millennia Convention Center. It's going to be awesome. I heard Yushimaru is coming up with his new summer line full of brilliant colors. Maybe after this fashion show I'll find the necessary inspiration to start drawing some more serious pieces. I want to move from dresses to doing something I've never done before like bathing suits, cute cover ups… I don't know. It'll be good for me to fill my portfolio with other works besides dresses."

"Yeah, I agree. I mean, we all know you are good with dresses but it's always good to have a little bit of everything. So, you can count me in."

Chiharu raised a brow and looked at Takashi, "Oh, I'm sorry Takashi, was I supposed to ask you for permission on going? I'm not sure if you wanted to have a date on that day."

Takashi sighed and dropped his head down. "You're not going to let this go, right babe...?" Takashi said before dropping his head down.

The guys smirked while Tomoyo and Meiling just laughed. Chiharu always knew how to control Takashi since even before they started dating.

"I spoke to Mark over the phone. He says Syaoran will start training over here while high school season's on."

Eriol took a deep breath at his friend's words. "Well, there goes our little vacation at the Villas this summer. Is that what Mark came to say today?"

"Yep" Kyu took one sip of his smoothie. He knew exactly what Eriol had meant by that. The fact that Syaoran had always been disciplined when it came to training only had them missing on a lot of things they wanted to do outside of soccer. And although they would gladly do it since it was to better themselves at playing, sometimes Syaoran was just too much into his training.

"Oh, I can talk to my cousin." Meiling was already trying to machinate a plan that would get him approve of her request. Although, it was better said than done in this case. Speaking to Syaoran about getting a few days off from soccer was a real challenge. "Or, better yet, I can talk to Sakura. She'll make sure to have him come down to a normal person's sense and have him going to the Villas with us for at least a week."

"A week?" Takashi sarcastically asked. "Ja! Try a weekend. A week is too much even if it is Sakura asking."

Takashi's whining face had them all laugh again. He was already imagining all the training he was going to go through with Li this summer.

"Well, one thing's for sure… we all know who will probably be captain after Mark leaves this year." They all nodded to Kyu's comment. Although Syaoran was not the captain yet, he already had the character and leadership to be one. They all knew that the only reason Mark was the captain was because he was one year older than the rest. But if a chance came to take the captaincy, Syaoran would no doubt have it with both eyes closed.

~ o ~

She had been waiting for his call since his game ended, but he never called. Sakura knew he was pissed, but he needed to understand her. She was the class president which meant that she had an obligation to meet their demands as best as her abilities would allow her to do so. I mean, she always understood when he had practice or when he had a game. Couldn't he do the same?

The game had finished around five in the afternoon. The clock read eight twenty three and she was still waiting for his phone call. She was getting a bad feeling about this and she didn't even know why. They had been through worst arguments than this and their relationship had survived. So she wasn't really sure why this argument was so different for him.

She decided to call Meiling to see if he was with them.

"Hey Sakura!"

"Hey Meiling, have you seen your cousin?"

"He isn't with you?" Meiling asked her.

"No. We had yet another argument about the same thing. He got mad and told me he would call me after he got to his car, but he hasn't called me yet. I tried his cell and he's not answering either. Do you think Kyu knows where he is?" Sakura heard Meiling on the other side asking her boyfriend.

"Nope. Kyu said he texted him to see if he wanted to go to the celebration together but he hasn't text back."

Now she had a really bad feeling about this. For Syaoran to be mad was one thing, but to just disappear on his own without telling any of his friends was just another thing. He just simply never did.

"Okay, thanks Meiling. If you see him please tell him to give me a call."

"Sure thing Sak! I'll see you later."

"Yeah, bye!" Sakura hanged up her cell phone. She wrote text number 14: 'Where r u? Why aren't u answering ur phone? R u alright?' and for the fourteenth time it was ignored. She didn't like this. She didn't like this at all.

She got out of bed and started searching her closet for something suitable to wear. After choosing her outfit, she took a shower and dressed. 'If he's not going to answer his phone, then he'll have to face me in person.' With that said, she got ready and was out of her house an hour later and on her way to his apartment.

~ o ~

He heard knocks coming from the door. He had spent hours and hours sitting on his favorite dark green armchair staring at the lighted fireplace thinking about many things but they all came down to one thing. Wei opened the door to reveal what he had been expecting since his game ended. Standing outside the door was Sakura. He searched her eyes only to see she was trying to keep her feelings at bay but deep down inside she was furious.

"Hi Wei." She said while walking inside the apartment and looking straight at him.

"Welcome Miss Sakura. Do you want anything to drink?" he politely offered.

She shook her head while keeping her stare on Syaoran's eyes. "No thanks Wei."

Wei nodded. "Very well. If you need anything, I'll be at the kitchen."

"Thanks Wei." She looked at Wei, politely smiled and nodded before returning her gaze to him. "I've been calling you. Your friends have been trying to reach you. I've even texted you. You don't think that the least you could have done is answer to any of us so that at least we stop worrying about you?"

"Is that any way of greeting me? You won't even ask if I'm okay." He softly asked.

"There's no need to. I can see you're perfectly fine."

"I wouldn't call it perfectly fine." He stood up from his armchair and walked towards the bar of his apartment. He took out a bottle of water and drank at least half the bottle.

"Oh really, do you need me to call 911 because you can't even answer your phone?" she sarcastically said as she walked towards the bar as well. She had always liked talking face to face instead of on the phone. It brought her a sense of comfort and assurance to see the other person's reaction to spoken words.

"I think we should break up." He sadly said to her.

She stood paralyzed not processing the words she had just heard coming from him. "What?"

He finally turned to look at her face to face. "This is not working anymore Sakura. You know it isn't."

She felt as if someone had just punched her a million times on her stomach, given her a zensu bean to nurse her back to health in less than a minute and punched her a million times on her stomach again. She walked slowly to stand in front of him. "We have been through fights before Syaoran and have always been able to be alright after talking and fixing what's wrong. I'm pretty sure we can still do it again somehow."

"That's the problem Sakura. I don't think that this is right anymore."

"Is this about the celebration party?"

"No."

"Because honestly, to fight because of a stupid party is juvenile Syaoran."

He sighed and looked away. "I'm tired of fighting Sakura."

"Then don't fight, talk!" she was about to lose control. She could feel the anger building up.

She saw him trying to blink the tears back before turning his face towards her. "I think we just got to the point where we are both too busy to be with each other." He ran his hands through his hair. "Before you won the class elections, you were always looking for ways in which you could help the class raise funds for this year but you still had time to be with me. And now, since you got the presidency from our class, you have been constantly working non-stop for the class. And you're good at what you do, I know that! Me on the other hand, I've been training to be in the finals this year. But since we qualified for the Asia Junior Cup tournament last year, I haven't been able to sleep well thinking that I'm still behind on my training. And even though we are not spending much time with each other, I don't think I can keep going like this. "

Tears started running down her face. "Since when have you feel this way?"

He hated to see her cry and to know the reason for her tears were his words only added to his frustration. But there was just no other way of doing this. "A while."

She smiled and shook her head. This couldn't be happening. She took a deep breath and stared at his eyes once again. "You know I support you with your training. I've always given you the space you've needed when it comes to your training. I would never do anything to jeopardize your future or your soccer career so I still can't see how you could feel this way."

"You truly don't get it?"

"What? After been dating for three years and four months my boyfriend suddenly decided to dump me because he says he needs to train and, even when I give him enough time to do so, he still feels like it's better to break up." She sarcastically said. "Did I leave anything out?"

"Don't do this Sakura. Don't make this any harder than it is."

"Harder for who Syaoran?"

He couldn't take it anymore and draw her into a hug. "Please understand." He whispered softly on her ear. "You've become a distraction to me Sakura. Right now, I need to concentrate on my training and you need to concentrate on the class."

The class, the class, was that really all he thought she cared about? Nevertheless, she nodded in his arms and got out of his embrace. "Fine. If this is the way you want it."

"This is the way I need it. Are you going to be alright?"

'You still care…' she thought but instead nodded. "I'll see you around." She said before turning quickly and heading out the door.

~o~

She reached her house, parked her car and entered her house. She noticed that the living room light was still on which meant her father was still up. 'Crap!' It wasn't that she had some kind of curfew or anything, but her father never approved of her relationship with Syaoran. From the beginning he had told her to be very careful with people like him. He told her that he would hurt her, but despise his warnings she dated him. She gave him a chance only to have him become what her father had warned her about. And she hated when her father was right, because it meant that he was going to gloat about it.

She tried to go upstairs to her room without making any noise so that he wouldn't notice that she was home and that she had been crying, but she failed miserably at it. When she was in the middle of the stairs she heard her father speak from below "Did he hurt you already?"

She quickly cleaned her face before turning to see her father. She was not up to taking his advises tonight. Tonight she just wanted to be alone in her room and think about what had happened. "What do you want, for me to congratulate you on your great analysis of character?" Her phone started ringing. 'Xiaolang' it read. She ignored it and waited on her father so that she could finally get to her room and finish crying.

"I told you he would do it. Boys like that don't deserve girls like you, Sakura. Boys like that are meant to be with girls like your cousin who only worries about her appearance and love to shop. You deserve someone much better than a soccer athlete. I told you once and I'll say it again, he is not good enough for you. I only tell you this because you are my daughter and I love you."

"Are you done?" Sakura couldn't hold her tears any longer. Her tears started to slip one by one. He had finish breaking her. She turned around without waiting for her father's answer and ran to her room. She threw the door shut and locked it. She put her phone in silence so that she wouldn't receive any calls tonight or in the morning. She just wanted to sleep.

She felt numbed. Her head was still spinning from the events that unfold themselves tonight before them. It was still a little hard to comprehend what had happened. After been dating for three years and four months how was she supposed to face him now? She cried on her bed for hours. How many times she had gone over the events that took place this evening, she didn't know. She lost track of the time trying to make sense of everything that was happening in her life before finally driving herself to sleep.

The next morning when she woke up, her head was strongly pounding protesting the morning light. She quickly walked into her bathroom to take a quick shower and try to feel better. After getting out she grabbed her cell phone and looked through all the missed calls. From the 23 missed calls, most of them from her friends who probably already knew Syaoran had broken up with her, there was one that caught her attention. 'My exit!' She hit the number from the person and waited for the other person to answer the phone.

"Have you thought about my proposition?" she heard the woman asked.

"I'm in!"

"I'll let him know then. He'll be very happy to hear the news. It was good talking to you again Sakura. I'll make the preparations for you. And… oh! Your plane leaves in three hours. We'll be waiting for you." The other person said before hanging up.

'That only leaves me with an hour to pack.' She looked at a picture Tomoyo took of Syaoran and her trying to skate on an ice lake. She remembered every time she tried to skate she fell down. The only way she could finally skate was with his arms around her so that she wouldn't fall. She smiled sadly at the memory while she took the frame and laid it facedown. She was out of here.

**Author's note:** Well first chapter is done. Please review after you read the chapter and tell me what do you guys think. Your opinion means a lot! Thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2 - A New Beginning

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Card Captor Sakura. I sadly just own the plot although if the owner wishes to give me Syaoran as a gift I would take him in a heartbeat.**

"**_You can't really begin to appreciate life until it has knocked you down a few times. You can't really begin to appreciate love until your heart has been broken. And you can't really begin to appreciate happiness until you've known sadness. Once you've walked through these valleys, the view from the mountain top is breathtaking." – Susan Gale_**

**Chapter 2  
>"A New Beginning"<strong>

_Seven Years Later_

"No, I want the ballroom primary colors to be red and white. I want the black luxurious tablecloth for each table, and for the centerpiece I want the roses in form of a soccer ball inside the squared crystal vase you showed me in the picture. Make me a sample and let Suri know when you have it so I can see it before approving anything."

"Very well Ms. Kinomoto."

After hearing the answer from the woman on the other side of the line, she hanged up the phone and put a note on her Ipad. One more thing down from all the many she still had to do. Her coffee was already cold halfway down and forgotten on the corner of her glass desk while she shuffled through some other pages that were on her desk before filing them on the side drawer. She could still remember the day everything started to become so hectic for her.

_2 years ago…_

"_Has your mother already spoken to you about this meeting?" A woman looking very professional in her black suit apparel and a pencil skirt walked along side Xiefa to the conference room. Her light brown hair had grown throughout the years and her wavy curls flowed all the way to her mid back. The sound of her heels could be heard throughout the hall and on her hand there was an Ipad where she kept everything related to her job._

"_I already told you Sakura, I have no idea. You know how mom is…"_

"_Yes, well you know, something tells me you know what this meeting is about but for some reason you want to keep it from me."_

_Xiefa laughed. "Oh, nonsense! Why would I do that?"_

_Sakura stopped and watched her go inside the conference room. Something was off and she knew it. _

_During the years she had become really close with Xiefa. Aside from been workaholics, they both shared the same passion for working at Li Enterprises. They were both perfectionist in what they did. This was the fourth year Xiefa had been working as a project manager inside the company, but in fact she was far more than that. She had become Yelan's eyes inside and outside of the company. You could say she took her family roots to heart as she had become sort of like Yelan's shadow in a good way. She watched step by step her mother's movements inside the company and was attentive of almost every matter concerning the company, which was why Sakura knew she was lying about not knowing what this meeting was all about. _

'_Oh well, I'll just have to find out.' Sakura thought before going into the conference room. The conference room was situated on the top floor at one of the corners. Two of its walls were made of glass while the other two faced the inside of the 53__rd__ floor. When she walked inside the conference room, a cherry wooden table in the middle had only seven people seated waiting for the meeting to start. She took a seat right next to Xiefa, as usual, and took a deep breath to mentally prepare herself for what was coming._

_Several minutes later, the doors closed, which only signaled that the last four people had arrived and the meeting could finally commence. After all the directors were seated, a power point presentation began on the huge conference LED TV and the blinds from the glass windows automatically scrolled down so that only the presentation could be seen._

_Yelan stood up and started the meeting, "After several meetings with the FIFA committee we have reached an agreement. Li Enterprises will take care of all the promotional events for the World Cup here in China."_

_It was all Sakura heard. After hearing the words "FIFA" along with "all the promotional events" she finally put two and two together and understood why Xiefa didn't wanted to say anything... She would have to see him again after seven years. _

Needless to say, it was about that time already. She was going over the checklist for this event on her Ipad when suddenly her office door swung open. In came a girl about 5'9 with red glasses, her black smooth silky hair in a pony tail, and her hands full of folders. She put the folders down on Sakura's desk and tried to catch her breath.

Sakura stopped going over the list and looked up from her desk, "What is this Suri?"

"These are all the entertainment groups you ask for. They have quoted for both events on separate documents like you requested them to. They have also included their pictures and schedules for you to see them between this week and the next. I've already put all their information on the system just in case you need it. Also, Xiefa has scheduled lunch with you today. She wants you to try one of the chefs she wants to use for the welcome night."

She sighed. "What time is the lunch?"

"At noon."

She looked at her office clock which read 11:42am. "Hoe! Why didn't you tell me sooner…" She grabbed her white leather coat from the seat. "Before I leave, these are the photo shoot agreements. I need you to get them signed by the players before the photo shoot. I already have a compromise tonight so I won't be able to do it."

She nodded. "I pin pointed the location of the restaurant and sent it to your phone. See you when you come back!" Suri said loudly as Sakura was rapidly putting her coat on and getting out of the office in a hurry. She had so much work still pending it was a miracle she was still sane or so she liked to think.

~ o ~

"To the right. Yes!" The sound of a camera could be heard taking several pictures at the same time. "That's it! One more! Perfect! That's it folks. We're done!"

Meiling sighed, "Finally."

A young red headed girl went over to her and brought her a purple robe to cover herself after the bikini shoot. "Here." She gave her the robe before going over her schedule with her. "Remember you have your hair appointment at Sasha's this afternoon and then later tonight you have Xin's party."

"I thought you had cancelled that..." she muttered while putting on the robe.

"Nope. You know you at least have to make an appearance. Tomorrow you're doing the perfume commercial in the morning before heading to the airport. Although I spoke with Xin today to confirm the party attendance and he requested to have lunch with you tomorrow. He said he wants to talk to you about some business."

"Carli!"

"Yes?" The read headed fixed her black glasses and nodded expecting Meiling's answer already.

"Do you know how much time I have spent away from my boyfriend already?" she calmly asked.

"Two weeks with three days and-" she looked at the watch she was wearing on her left hand before saying, "thirty seven minutes and still counting."

"That long... Don't you consider it long enough?" at this Meiling looked at her manager and smiled.

Carli knew that smile too well. The definition of it been 'cross me and your dead' so she just nodded before saying, "Which is why I told him that he could travel with us and discuss this business proposal on the plane back to China."

Meiling started to walk towards the dressers. "Fine! I'll talk with him on the plane." She suddenly turned towards her. "But, I'm not discussing business in China. Carli… make this clear to him. My time in China is mine and mine alone."

"Perfectly understood." Carli nodded nervously.

Meiling got into the dresser to change to normal clothes. She had graduated from college with a business administration degree but she had never liked it enough to pursue working in a business after that. When an opportunity presented itself where she had to model for one of her best friends Tomoyo, she took it and she has been a model ever since.

At first she signed with a modeling company to start meeting people inside the industry besides Tomoyo. This is where she came to know Carli. Her straight forward and sarcastic personality made them become friends real fast. As it resulted at the time, Carli was an agent that was looking to start working on her own. Even though Meiling could be a little, well… let's face it, very intimidating, it was easier to work with Carli since she already knew her. So, Meiling decided to leave the modeling company and work directly with Carli. And the move had been positive so far, by now Meiling had become one of the most acclaimed models in the fashion industry.

She changed to a long sleeve gray shirt and white skinny jeans before she started to get all her makeup off. It was amazing how many products these makeup artists used to put on models just for a shoot. She heard a knock on her door. "Yes…?"

"It's lover boy."

She quickly opened the locker door and grabbed the phone from Carli's hands.

"Hi baby!" she sweetly greeted. His voice was all she needed to hear to switch from moody Meiling to all girly-girly Meiling. She heard him chuckled on the other side of the phone. She had been dating Kyu since they met in high school. One could think they had a real long time relationship but in fact since she started her modeling career they had been on and off when it came to been a couple.

"Hey babe! We just landed here. Are you done with your shoot?"

"Yes finally!"

"How did it go?"

"I think it went really well. I don't know… maybe you can tell me when it comes out in two weeks."

"Well… it's you baby. I'm sure it's perfect."

"Mmm... I can't wait till I see you tomorrow. Sucks that I have to stay one more day here…" she said the last part a little louder so that Carli could hear her too. Carli just looked at her and shrugged.

He chuckled again, "Well, don't worry. We probably won't be able to do anything today here besides practice and going to the hotel. Babe, I'll call you when we get to the hotel. We're getting out of the airplane now."

"Okay… I love you!"

"I love you too!" she heard him say before hanging up. She was so ready for this modeling trip to be over. It would definitely be a change in scenery as she was in one of the islands for the photo shoot and she would be going back home where it was freezing cold but she didn't care. All she wanted to do was see Kyu again.

~ o ~

A whistle was heard inside the soccer field and a group of soccer players started sprinting to the finish line. They had arrived in China around noon, and before heading for the hotel, their coach had already scheduled a practice for them. It was four in the afternoon and they were almost done with the practice.

"I don't understand why we have to have practice the same day we arrive." Xiun, one of their teammates said. He was a rookie that had started with the team last year. He had his hands on his knee trying to catch his breath as he watched his other teammates sprinting to the finish line as well. They were doing sprints in lines of five.

"Yeah, I mean… can't he at least gives us a day off? It's just a friendly match." Gee asked.

"And then in this cold weather…"

Another whistle was heard and in came sprinting Syaoran, Eriol, Kyu, Mark and another one of their teammates Lui.

"You're getting slow Syaoran…" Mark chuckled as he tried to catch his breath as well. "I almost catch you there."

Syaoran smirked. "What you almost catch was my dust."

"I can't believe you guys enjoy this?" Xiun asked.

Kyu and Eriol looked at each other waiting for the inevitable to happen. It didn't take Syaoran three seconds to react to his question. He looked at Xiun, "If you train the way you're supposed to and stop whining then perhaps you'll know what it feels like to play for your country. Otherwise you know where the door is."

"Syaoran!" Mark said in a warning tone.

He looked at Mark, "It's the truth. He needs to pick it up."

Mark sighed, "Don't mind him Xiun, he's just being an idiot. But really, we need to train. The more we train the better are our chances of winning that cup this year. Four years ago we were close to getting in to those finals, this year will be different. That is why we must use all the time we can to better ourselves."

Xiun nodded and got ready in line for the next sprint. The whistle was heard and his group started running.

"You know… you shouldn't treat the rookies so hard. We were once rookies too." Mark turned and said to him.

"I don't remember whining that much when I was a rookie."

"It's different Syaoran."

He smirked, "Whenever you're ready 'mother', I'm ready to beat you again."

Mark looked at Eriol and Kyu for some help but at the sight of them shrugging he sighed. They all got in line for their next sprint. Syaoran had always been competitive, he knew that much. He was always looking for ways to improve himself. Since they had met, he had always admired Syaoran's work ethic when it came to his training. It was part of the reason why he was the player he was today.

Several minutes later, practice was over and Syaoran was still in the field kicking the ball towards the net from the penalty kick zone. He would kick five balls, picked them up again and set them to start kicking them again. He was used to doing this after every practice for at least thirty more minutes before heading to the locker room to shower like the rest of his teammates.

"One day, I will be like him." One of them said.

The rookies where standing in the fence looking at him. "Are you sure he's not a machine?"

Eriol heard the same rookie Syaoran had snapped at ask on his way to the locker room and chuckled. "Don't take it to heart man. Syaoran can be an asshole sometimes but it's just because he loves this game too much. He knows where he wants to be and what it will take to get there."

Xiun nodded and headed towards the locker room.

Kyu sighed. "You know… we might have to come up with something to hold him off from snapping at every rookie that comes into the team or else we won't have a team for the next four years."

Erio smirked. "I know." He said before heading towards the locker room to take a shower.

~ o ~

_"Li, you have been called by many a genius inside the field. What can you say about that?" a blonde reporter placed a microphone in front of him._

_He shrugged her question by answering "I appreciate the names but it's all just about teamwork and having fun on the field what it comes down to."_

_"There's been talk about you having been in negotiations to play in the European League. Is there any truth to that?"_

_"Honestly, my agent is the one that has that responsibility. I know he has met with some owners but other than that I still don't have anything for certain. For now, I'd like to focus on the World Cup this year. After that, I'll sit down with him and talk about my future."_

_"Coming back to China must have felt refreshing after so many years in Japan. How do you feel about playing at home?"_

_"It's an honor to defend my country." _

_"Li, thank you for your time and good luck on the tournament. We'll all be rooting for China!" She said with a small cheer at the end._

_He gave a small bow and smiled at the camera before walking towards the bus and joining his teammates on it._

_"Back to you, Yuri."_

_"Such an amazing guy. To be so young and already be seen as if he carried the whole China team on his shoulders for this tournament. The bright young man of 25 years of age is set to play the Kahi Charity friendly match in a week followed by the World Cup Tournament on July here in China. We'll definitely be cheering for you and your teammates next week at the coliseum!"_

Yelan turned her TV off with a satisfied smile on her face. To watch all of her son's achievements was something to be proud off and more so after being able to convince her husband to let Syaoran be an athlete as he had always dreamt of being. It hadn't been easy but an opportunity presented itself and she gladly took it.

She had been able to visit him from time to time and enjoyed spending time with him and his friends in Japan. While he had studied in Japan, he had also signed a contract to play professionally over there. It was his first contract and he had been able to sign along with his friends. During those visits she could understand why he liked to play over there. And now word on the streets was that he was finally going to be signing a big contract at the European League of his choice. She was indeed a proud mother.

~ o ~

"Are you sure you want to stay at the hotel man? Auntie must be expecting you to stay at home." Eriol asked entering the hotel with his dark sunglasses and team attire.

"She should understand by now Eriol, wherever the team goes… I go. Until coach releases us, we stay in the hotel." Syaoran responded wearing his sunglasses, the team jacket, jeans, and a baseball hat to prevent people from recognizing him too much, although no one really knew who he was trying to fool.

"Ooouuhh… And here I thought we could at least get away from all this publicity madness the reporters have whenever they see a player passing by…" Kyu protested.

"Not to mention the nasty restaurant food…" Eriol added as an afterthought.

"Both of you stop. We're staying at the hotel until coach releases us. End of discussion." He calmly said but in a demanding tone.

"Fine." Eriol said.

They walked inside the hotel doors with their bags on hand and alongside their teammates. According to their coach, he wanted them all together staying at the hotel for the charity friendly game because this was the hotel they were going to be staying at during the FIFA World Cup tournament as well. It was better this way so they could get a feel of their surroundings for when the cup tournament came in July.

"Without a question, this is one of the best hotels I've ever stayed at." Gee, one of their teammates said. As he looked around, he saw many butlers attending their guests. The golden Chinese carvings that decorated the top of the walls along with the modern decoration gave the hotel a luxurious feeling once you walked into the lobby. "You own this hotel Li?"

Syaoran looked around at the hotel and proudly answered, "Yes." Although it was a five star hotel, he was thankful that his father finally saw some sense on his last year of high school and understood that dealing with the business was not in his heart to do so.

They put their bags down on the lobby and waited for their coach to come back with their room keys. While they were waiting, a few girls came over to take pictures with the team. Couple of minutes later, the whole lobby was full of people taking pictures with the entire team but mostly with Kyu, Eriol and Syaoran.

"I don't know why you wear that baseball hat you know… It never works." Eriol smirked his way.

"Whatever man…" he said while smiling for the next picture with some fan girl. It wasn't that he was too arrogant to take the picture, but sometimes fans were a little aggressive on them.

Suddenly the coach came back with some security guards to separate the team from the fans. After the situation was under control, the coach started handing them their keys.

"Remember, for the rest of today you rest. And make sure you do fully rest tonight." He said this last part looking at Kyu. From the team, he was one of the guys who trouble always coincidentally found him. "Also, stay away from the reporters and if you want to go outside this hotel, you must ask someone from management for permission. Last thing… no girls in the rooms."At this last statement he turned his face to look directly at Syaoran. "Got it?"

Syaoran smirked and took his key from the coach's hand. He walked with his other two friends towards the elevator.

"Why do I have a feeling that last part was meant only for us?" Eriol sarcastically asked.

"Well, I guess with Syaoran's record he felt a need to specify that to us." Kyu added.

"Whatever. I'm not the only one that has gotten in trouble for having girls in his room. Besides, this is different. The World Cup is months away. He should know I won't do anything stupid."

When the elevator door opened before them, they got in and press the last button. His mother made sure that the entire team was staying in the best available rooms… the hotel suites.

~o~

She looked at herself in the mirror and carefully put some lipstick on herself. It was a red color but she hated to draw too much attention to herself so she tried to just pat it on her lips so that the color wouldn't be too dark on her lips. A short black haired man could be seen in the reflection of the mirror. She smiled when she saw his dark brown eyes impatiently looking at his watch as he waited for her to finish putting her makeup on.

"Sakura, we'll be late if you don't hurry."

She smiled at her boyfriend. "Okay, okay, I'm done. Let's go." She sweetly smiled at him and grabbed his hand as he led her out of their hotel room.

"I'm pretty sure they understand that it is not so easy for any woman to be on time to any date, even if it is just dinner." She said while making sure that her dress was perfect. She was wearing a long sleeve white dress. The dress accentuated her figure as it stretched perfectly tight on her body and the loose long skirt that fell with the dress gave her an elegant look that wasn't too fancy to have dinner with Jun's friends.

He laughed, "No babe. I'm not even sure why you girls have to wear so much makeup."

"You like us that way, don't complain." She said in a matter of fact tone.

He put his arm around her waist and in a low voice said, "I like you in many other ways, in fact if you ask me I'd say I could think of a lot other times I've like you better without makeup on. Mmm… I could even consider calling Fey to cancel dinner right now and just go back inside our room."

She smiled at his childish comment. "You don't really mean that do you…?" she sarcastically asked him.

"Well, I'm pretty sure you'd enjoy it…" he smirked while the elevator door opened in front of them.

Her smile slowly started to disappear and was replaced by a stunned reaction as she looked at the figures standing right in front of them. Hidden emotions started running all over the place as she stared at him.

In front of her she found Eriol, Kyu and none other than the cause for her haunted dreams for these past two years…Syaoran. He was wearing a black long sleeve turtleneck under his team jacket that accentuated his now muscular strong figure, dark jeans and his favorite footwear… sneakers. She couldn't miss admiring his body even if she tried to. On TV it looked pretty good but nothing beats seeing it in real life.

She quickly turned her face towards her boyfriend to avoid his gaze. Those piercing auburn eyes that she with such difficulty tried to forget over the course of seven years still held a strong pull on her. Knowing him, if he caught her admiring his body he would try to make an arrogant comment that would probably get her in trouble with Jun for the rest of the night.

"Sakura!" Eriol surprisingly exclaimed.

'Great! Just my luck!' She felt Jun's hand tightened protectively around her waist after hearing Eriol. "Do you know these people, love?"

She looked at Eriol and tried to hide her shock behind a small smile. "They studied with me at Tomoeda High a long time ago."

"A long time ago has been indeed." Kyu said in a low voice enough so that just the three of them heard what he had said.

She slowly let the breath she had been holding since she saw them out before saying "You'll have to excuse us. We are already late to an engagement we have right now."

"Sure. Don't let us hold you up. Are you staying here?" Kyu asked her.

She quickly looked at Syaoran's face. His face gave her the answer she was looking for. 'I need to do something before it's too late.' But before she could answer, Jun was the one that spoke. "Yes, well, just for this weekend. Perhaps we can even meet some other time so you can have time to catch up."

"Baby, we're really late now." She quickly said without allowing them time to say anything to his request.

"Oh yes. Well, excuse us." He said before leading her out of their way and into the elevator. They waited for the doors to close before walking through the hallway.

"Interesting… in all my life I would've never guessed she would've been dating someone like him." Eriol carelessly said.

"Do you know him?" Kyu asked.

"That's Jun, Senator Eli's first son. People say he will probably follow his father into politics once he finishes school this year." Eriol answered.

Kyu whistled. "Really, how do you know this?"

"I read the newspaper aside from playing, you know…" Eriol said. He turned to look at his cousin's reaction. The entire time Syaoran just stood there watching. He hadn't said a word yet which only increased Eriol's worries. He could only hope that Syaoran wouldn't go back to who he became right after losing her.

They continued on their way to their hotel rooms as Kyu opened Syaoran's door with the slide card. Each player had gotten a separate room, but they usually spend their time together on the trips until the girls would arrive or they each had to go to their room to sleep. So, they all walked into Syaoran's room and settled their bags down. Trying to lighten the mood, Eriol turned on the TV and searched for any soccer game that the hotel channels could offer. While he was searching through the cable guide, he saw one from the European League and put it there.

"I heard from Mark that his coach on England is looking to see if he can sign the three of us on his team this year." Kyu said.

"Can you imagine the three of us on the same team at the European League?" Eriol commented.

"I bet it's going to be better than in Japan. I heard England is very beautiful and parties are top of the line." Kyu said as he laid himself on Syaoran's bed and started to watch the game. He glanced at Syaoran. His face gave an indication that he was not watching the game in fact he was still inside the elevator looking at Sakura.

Syaoran sighed. He sat on the corner of his bed and started to watch the game. He still hadn't said a word even with the game on TV. Usually he would be immersed into watching the soccer game, make comments about it, and joke around but right now he just wanted to be alone.

A knock was heard on the door and Eriol went to see who it was. "Syaoran," he called from the door and smirked, "a lady here is asking for you."

Syaoran stood up from the bed and walked towards the door.

"Already getting into trouble…" he said in a low voice so that only Syaoran was able to hear as he passed through the small hallway to reach the door.

"Shut it Eriol." He said before looking at the girl outside the door. She was wearing a loose blue blouse with working white dress pants and heels. In one hand she had her phone while the other was holding a folder. He could see the nervousness in her eyes as she saw him.

"Li, Syaoran! Your coach told me I could possibly find you three together. " She excitedly said. "My name is Suri Hatashi and I work for Li Enterprises. You have been chosen along with Hirragizawa, Eriol and Matsushi, Kyu to be in the World Cup posters. I need you and your teammates to read these agreements and sign at the bottom of each page." She said as she smiled at him.

Kyu stood up from the table after hearing his name and went to the door. "These papers?" he took the papers from her hands and gave Eriol his, "Do you need them signed now?"

She nodded. Eriol and Kyu got their papers and sat on the table at the corner of the room to fill them out. "I'm sorry, but I just feel like I'm the luckiest girl alive right now. I know this isn't very professional of me but, can I take a picture with you three?" she excitedly asked.

Eriol looked up from his papers, "Sure!"

They stopped for a minute from reading the agreements to take the picture with her. She took the picture and squealed happily. "Oh I can't believe it. My friends won't believe me when I tell them I had the chance of meeting you three. And more so when I tell them I took a picture with you three. And to think that if it wasn't because of Sakura I wouldn't even be this lucky…" she cheerfully said.

The mention of her name woke Syaoran's interest. He raised an eyebrow and looked at her, "Sakura? You work with Sakura Kinomoto?"

She happily nodded. "My boss. She was supposed to come and do this but she had a previous engagement so she had to send me. Not that I am complaining. Oh, this is so exciting."

He scoffed, "Tell your boss I am not signing any papers unless she comes herself."

She suddenly stopped smiling and looked confusingly at him. "What?"

"Syaoran! Just sign the papers man." Kyu said.

Her joy suddenly vanished. "Oh but, I need you to sign them. Please sign them. I don't want to get in any trouble." She nervously said.

"Tell your boss that if she wants those papers signed, she can come herself and ask for it." He gave the papers back to her and walked towards the door.

"Where are you going?" Kyu asked.

"Out! I need some air." was all he said before walking out the door.

She looked at Eriol and Kyu painfully, "Is he always like this?"

"Please excuse him. He's ah… not feeling very well right now." Eriol said.

She whined. "Mou… my boss will kill me if I don't get him to sign those papers."

"She won't. Trust me." Kyu said as he smiled back at the girl.

~ o ~

She walked outside of the hotel's restaurant followed by her boyfriend who was eagerly talking to his friends while guiding her out. She had barely touched her plate at the restaurant at all. After meeting Syaoran at the elevator, everything had changed. There was no doubt she still felt nervous when meeting him. 'Probably because it's been so long.', she thought.

To make it worse, the entire dinner conversation had bored her, yet she complied and accompanied her boyfriend loyally like she had agreed to. While getting out, she spotted Syaoran looking intently at her from the bar. She took a deep breath and sweetly turned towards her boyfriend, "Babe, can you get the car? I'll just go to the bar real quick while you get it."

"Sure." He said to her before turning again to his friends and re-taking their conversation. They had agreed to take his friends around the city on a night stroll, but before that she wanted a much needed drink.

His stare followed her every step without missing her body's movement. She was conscious that when they dated back then he had been able to read her like a book. She had to put an end to this before it was too late. She approached the bar and stood next to him while ordering her drink "Can I have a glass of whiskey on the rocks with coconut water please? Thank you."

The bartender served her drink in front of her. She took money out of her clutch to pay for her drink then put her clutch on the side. After having dinner with Jun's political friends she was craving one of these badly. Politics had always been a subject she hated but Jun was a little different according to her. The fact that Syaoran was at the bar was an added bonus as she could finally put an end to his ridiculous stalking before it could even start to get worst while also having her much needed drink. It was like killing two birds with one stone. She tasted the hard liquor on her lips and relaxed.

"Isn't that a little too much alcohol for a lady?" He asked while taking a sip of his drink.

"I thought I made my statement very clear to you when I left." She told him without turning towards him. That elevator image of him still fresh on her mind as she had to acknowledge the power his stare still held over her.

"Must have missed it like your goodbye." He coldly answered her.

She gave a small chuckled before asking him, "Where you honestly expecting one?"

"You look nice in that dress."

She tiredly sighed. "Stop." She took another sip of her drink.

"You haven't told him about us."

It wasn't a question but a statement and one she knew very well the answer to. "He doesn't care for unimportant events from my past. What's important to him is our present and future together."

He smirked before calmly saying "You should leave him. Even after seven years away from you I can see you don't love him."

The arrogance behind his words made her turn towards him with a sarcastic smile on her face to hide her irritation after hearing his words. It had always infuriated her whenever he acted all knowingly and he knew this as well. It was one of the reasons why she knew that finding him here was already trouble for her. She needed to stop this and she needed to do it now. "We were done seven years ago Syaoran. Do us both a favor and stop looking for me." She said before finishing her drink and walking away from him.

He watched her walk away with a smile on his face. She was still cute when she got mad. It was something he had terribly missed and something he still loved about her.

~ o ~

Sleep didn't find her last night. His eyes had invaded her dreams once more only this time it was different. He was finally here. She welcomed the morning anxiously. Even though it was cold outside, she got up at 4:30 in the morning as usual, run for an hour around town, and then headed to her sanctuary… the office.

She was discussing more event ideas with Xiefa already trying to find ways of getting as much charity money as possible from the Kahi friendly match without forgetting about the big World Cup tournament which was almost there as well. Since both events were so close to each other they had to be careful and plan everything ahead to make sure not to miss anything or make a mistake.

"So you liked the chef?" Xiefa asked from the chair in front of her desk.

She nodded. "I think he'll be perfect."

"I'm planning on having father come out and test his food this week. He needs to approve before we sign the contract. Perhaps we could have him do a combination of meat and seafood. I'm not sure if we should hire another chef for the dessert."

She nodded. "It will probably be better to hire another chef that only specializes in desserts. You can never miss like that. I think you should take your mother too. She knows more about food than your father."

Xiefa nodded. "I'll do that. Did you get the photo shoot agreements signed?"

She started looking at some papers in her office and making sure things were going according to the plan. She touched the speaker button on her phone, "Suri, did you get all the athletes to sign the photo shoot agreement?"

She heard the door opened and her assistant Suri walked in. She approached her cautiously with the folders on her hand and slowly put them down on her desk. "Well… almost all of them."

Sakura stopped what she was doing and look sternly at her. "What? You know I don't accept almost all of them, I need them all signed and we are on a tight schedule here as it is."

Suri started nervously fidgeting with her nails. "I...I...I know Sakura, but one of them didn't want to sign it. I did try to get him to sign it by any means but um… he only said to relay this message to you."

She narrowed her eyes at Suri and gesture her to continue. "Well?"

"Syaoran Li said that if you wanted something from him, you should go personally and ask for it yourself."

"What?" she couldn't believe what she was hearing.

Xiefa chuckled and laughed. This was just getting interesting. Before Sakura could kill the poor girl she intervened between them. "Alright, Suri you can leave us." She followed Suri to the door and, once the girl was out of the office, closed the door.

Sakura closed her eyes slowly and rubbed her fingers through her temples. A headache was already on its way... she could feel it. She took a deep breath before turning around and walking towards her window. It was always soothing to see many people walking by the streets from her view in the office.

"Well, I guess my brother will definitely not make this easy on you. You know my mother wants him there."

"I know what she wants Xiefa, there's no point in reminding me." She snapped but in a controlled tone. She didn't needed to be reminded that he had to be in the photo shoot. Aside from being a Li, he was also one of the most popular players fans had an eye for. There was no way he couldn't be in that photo shoot.

"Well, as an advice, just ask him professionally. If I know my brother, any bad temper from you will make things a lot harder than they already are."

She sighed. "Can you please leave me alone? I need to think."

"Sure." She walked towards the door but before she left she turned around to look at Sakura. "If you need anything, just let me know."

Sakura looked at her and nodded. "Thanks."

She knew she couldn't avoid this. There was absolutely no space for errors and they were short on time. 'Fine! I'll go and make you sign this stupid contract… but you will definitely not like it.' She thought narrowing her eyes and already planning her vengeance on his little request.

**Author's note**: Well, here is chapter two. First off, I'd like to thank all of you who reviewed my first chapter. I love hearing feedback from people to keep learning when I'm writing each chapter. Also, it inspires me to keep going so many thanks! Second, some of you had questions that are already part of the story so I won't answer any of them in the author's note but if I find a question that is not part of the story line I'll definitely answer it here. This is something I had thought of doing for some time, I just was too lazy to start writing again. Well, hope you enjoyed it and please review the second chapter. You're the best!


	3. Chapter 3 - Picture Bring Back Memories

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Card Captor Sakura. I sadly just own the plot although if the owner wishes to give me Syaoran as a gift I would take him in a heartbeat.**

**_"As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let us down, probably will. You'll have your heart broken and you'll break others' hearts. You'll fight with your best friend or maybe even fall in love with them, and you'll cry because time is flying by. So take many pictures, laugh too much, forgive freely, and love like you've never been hurt. Life comes with no guarantees, not time outs, no second chances. You just have to live life to the fullest, tell someone what they mean to you and tell someone off, speak out, dance in the pouring rain, hold someone's hand, comfort a friend, fall asleep watching the sun come up, stay up late, be a flirt, and smile until your face hurts. Don't be afraid to take chances or fall in love and most of all, live in the moment because every second you spend angry or upset is a second of happiness you can never get back." - Unknown_**

**Chapter 3**

**Pictures Bring Back Memories**

They had come from practice two hours ago but he still felt something was bothering him. It was as if practice had not been enough, so he went over to the hotel gym and ran another forty five minutes on the treadmill before heading towards his room. He got out of the shower and put on his black long loose sporty sweatpants with a white tank and laid on his bed thinking. He heard a knock on his door and grunted. 'I just dropped into my bed.' He stood up and opened the door to find Sakura with a folder on her hand which he guessed was the photo shoot agreement.

"Sakura!" He smirked. "What a lovely surprise." She was wearing long black dressy pants and a white blouse. He could tell she had just gotten out of her office and went straight to the hotel by the look of her appearance.

She noticed the way he was dressed and how a few drops of water dripped from his hair into his tank but didn't give him the satisfaction of seeing her affected by it as she stared at him sternly, "Spare me your sarcastic greeting. Do you think I have enough time on my hands to be losing it on you?"

She was irritated, he could see that much. "Well, I wouldn't call it losing your time unless that's what you think of the agreement. But please, do come in." He said as he offered some space for her to walk into his room.

"I will not." She firmly said. "You're the only one who hasn't signed this agreement yet. Now, why would that be?" She narrowed her eyes at him.

He leaned on the door frame and crossed his arms on his chest as he smiled carelessly, "Well, I didn't saw it professional that an assistant would ask me for my signature. What if she wasn't really your assistant? You know… I have no way of knowing. I've got to be careful these days." He arrogantly answered.

She rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Sign the agreement."

"How have you been all these years you've disappeared?"

"In case you didn't notice, my well being should have stopped being a concern to you since um…" She mockingly made a thoughtful face then quickly answered, "seven years ago. Now, sign the agreement."

"Well, you have grown moody over the years." He muttered.

Being in front of him was beginning to make her feel uneasy. She was losing her patience which was never good for anyone. She remembered what Xiefa had told her and tried to calm down before taking a deep breath and looking into his eyes, "Who do you think you'll be hurting if you don't sign? It won't be me, I assure you. These photo shoots are for promotions and if I remember correctly, you wanted to be the best soccer player in the world. For that, aside from good talent, you also need advertisements. In the end, by not signing, the only one you'd be hurting is yourself. So, sign the papers and I'll see you tomorrow on the photo shoot. Be there at nine, and don't be late." She placed the papers on his chest. Out of shock, he quickly grabbed the papers after feeling the folder pressed to his chest as he watched her turned around and leave without speaking any more words to him.

He playfully smiled as he watched her go into the elevator. There was something he found enticing every time he riled her up something that without a doubt he still loved doing.

~ o ~

Morning came and she had just gotten to the studio where the photo shoot was set to take place dressed in casual but still stylish business attire. Her white dressy pants and blouse was good enough to work but not to impress. Her light pink heals that matched the suit coat could be heard as she walked into the hallway and into the studio. They had been advertising this event for quite some time now using other pictures that were sent to her a couple of months before the tournament was to take place but she still wanted to take new pictures for the merchandise to be sold in the tournament. According to her, this would help raise more money to help the communities after all that was the whole point of the tournament in the first place.

They had chosen four guys from Italy, four guys from China, and their coaches to do this photo shoot for the Kahi tournament. She watched the makeup artists work on their Italian athletes quickly so that the photographer could start with the shoot.

As she inspected everyone's work, she saw Syaoran was also in there getting ready for the photo shoot. She remembered speaking on the phone with Suri earlier and he still hadn't shown up back then. So, she wasn't sure if he was going to show up or not. I mean, after all she hadn't been as professional as Xiefa had suggested, but she was glad in the end he had decided to come. She saw him flirting with the girl that was doing his hair for the photo shoot and narrowed her eyes. 'Idiot!'

"You should be careful Sakura…" a voice to her left called her attention as she saw Xiefa approaching with a knowingly smile on her face… the kind of smile she usually had when she knew something others didn't. "If anyone caught you looking at my brother like that they could think you still have something for him."

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, "You're imagining things."

Xiefa continued smiling, "I do hope so."

Sakura sighed. "Are the Italians ready? We should start this photo shoot."

Xiefa smirked and nodded.

Sakura walked towards the photographer, "Joe, we can start."

He nodded. "Okay people, let's go." As he said this, everyone got in place and he started the photo shoot.

He took pictures of each player individually, others he took with the four players that were representing their team and their coaches, and he also took some pictures of them individually doing an action with the soccer ball. It took him an hour to finish with everyone and finally wrapped it up.

"I'll have the pictures delivered to you this afternoon. That way you can tell me which ones you want in banners and which ones you want in posters." He said to her.

"We recently got a contract with a beverage company to place the pictures on their cans. Do you think you can also do an art of their pictures to digitally send them to the company?"

"As you wish love. Anything for you." The photographer said as he smiled to her.

She smiled back and nodded. "I'll try to answer this week so that we don't delay this any longer."

He nodded and started to put his camera away. "Well, you have my cell phone. Call me whenever you're ready."

She nodded and sighed.

"Sakura!" Xiefa walked towards her. "I just received a call from the field manager telling me that some lights are out. The charity tournament is next weekend. We can't have these types of fallbacks right now. Do you think we can call a repair company right now to have them fixed?"

"We need to quote Xiefa. We can't go over budget on this."

"I think I can convince father. It shouldn't be that hard for him to understand."

"No Xiefa. The budget is already set. I'm pretty sure we can receive a quote by today or tomorrow for the service without going over."

She heard laughing at her side and turned to see him joking around with his friends. The hairdresser from earlier was also there laughing at his jokes. Sakura didn't miss the playful smack she gave him as he said something to her that made her laugh again, leaving no doubt of her interest in him.

Xiefa looked towards the direction her attention switched to and chuckled. "Don't you have a boyfriend?"

"Yes I do." She said before turning her attention to a chart on her iPad.

"Then why do you keep looking at my brother like that?"

She knew Xiefa was only teasing her and she wasn't going to give her the satisfaction of doing so. "You're imagining things again. My Xiefa…" she mockingly looked at her friend, "I didn't know you had such a vivid imagination."

Xiefa cunningly smiled, "From what I hear he hasn't had a steady relationship since you left him."

Sakura looked at the chart on her iPad again and sighed. "Not sure why you're even telling me this."

"I've even heard that girls go crazy for him. His little fan club has increased greatly in these past few years." Xiefa said and chuckled again.

"Along with his many conquests I bet." She muttered still looking at the chart. After analyzing the information she turned towards Xiefa and sighed. "It just feels weird to see him again after seven years."

"Well, I can always get you copies of the magazines he's been in so you can see how he has developed throughout all those seven years."

She rolled her eyes at her so called friend, "You know what I mean. Pictures are never the same as looking at him here."

Xiefa chuckled. "The offer still stands. I'm pretty sure my mother's collection should have all of them since he started playing pro." Then she smirked, "I'm pretty sure you could even catch some pictures of when he was a baby. You know, you actually never told me how you got him to sign the papers."

"Don't ask. Not even I know." she sighed as she started to write some notes down.

On the other side of the room, the guys were joking about some problems Syaoran had gotten into in one of their trips back in Japan.

"Hey, I told you. I'm not the only one who has gotten in trouble for it."

The hairdresser smacked him in the arm. "Oh Li, you're such a bad boy aren't you?"

He smiled at her, "You know… we should definitely go out tonight. What do you guys think?"

"Well, I have no problems. Tomoyo is already here so we should do something."

"I'm game. Meiling would probably want to go for a few minutes. After that I don't promise anything." Kyu jokingly said.

He looked at the hairdresser again, "I'm pretty sure Thiane knows a good place around here were we could all have some fun tonight. What do you say?" He threw her a smile that melted her.

"I sure do." She flirted back.

"Li Syaoran!"

He turned around to see who had called him. "Depends on who is asking." he flirtingly answered.

Suri smiled. "I'm so glad you are in a better mood today than the last time I saw you. I have the 300 soccer balls outside for you. I didn't know you cared so much for these things. It's really nice of you."

The guys all looked at her. Confused, Syaoran started to lose his smile and asked, "I'm sorry... 300 soccer balls?"

She nodded. "Sakura said you love to give back to the community and enjoy spending time with children. It's very nice of you to offer your time to visit these kids who enjoy watching you play and to give them a memorable gift as a signed soccer ball. I bet they will really appreciate and love you for it."

Kyu raised a brow and smirked while Eriol chuckled. Syaoran narrowed his eyes, "Where is your boss?"

"Oh, she's going through the checklist with your sister. But where do you want-"

He didn't let her finish as he quickly stood up and set himself to find her. She let him pass by with a smile on her face before turning towards the hairdresser. "Thiane is it?" She asked.

She looked at Suri and nodded.

"It seems to me like you'll have to discard that invitation. By the looks of it, Li will be pretty busy for the rest of his day." She smirked before walking away.

After looking around he finally found her talking to his sister and headed over towards her.

"Sakura!" She heard her name being called and stopped writing notes on her iPad to look at Syaoran who was rapidly walking towards them with a not too happy face on. 'So, he must have heard.' She thought.

"I'm sorry for interrupting Xiefa," he looked at Sakura. "Can I speak with you for a minute?"

"Sure." she turned toward Xiefa, "Don't worry about the lights I'll take care of it."

Xiefa nodded and left. Sakura followed him to the corner and innocently smiled at him, "Is there anything wrong?"

"Is there...?" he annoyingly laughed, "Is there anything wrong? Perhaps you should tell me. Visiting the community with 300 soccer balls?"

"Oh that! I'm so glad you volunteered for it." She said and smirked.

"When did I volunteer for it, Sakura? I don't have time. I need to train."

"Oh, you know it's funny that you mention you need time to train. As a matter of fact I needed some time to think about who could possibly do this community visiting but... guess what happened with my time...? I had to go to the hotel to ask this jerk to sign some agreement papers because he couldn't sign them when my assistant took the papers to him. So..." she shrugged, "I couldn't come up with a better person for this activity than you."

"Is this some sort of joke? It's hilarious really..." he jokingly said running his hands through his hair not believing she could actually think he would do this.

"Oh no, no, no..." she narrowed her eyes. "I'm very serious."

"Syaoran!" They both turned towards his coach who approached them. "I see you're already talking with Ms. Kinomoto here. I spoke to her this morning and she has a great idea to increase fans for the tournament. I volunteered you to help her with this. You don't mind do you?"

He looked at his coach trying to calm himself down, "We have practice this afternoon coach."

"Oh, don't worry about it. I'll tell your teammates you'll be doing this charitable work today. You're excused from practice." He turned to Sakura, "There Ms. Kinomoto, I told you there wouldn't be any problem with him. Let me know if you need more guys later on."

She sweetly smiled at the coach, "Thank you so much coach for understanding. I'm sure the kids will love this." She waited for the coach to leave before turning towards Syaoran with a triumphant smile on her face. She patted his chest and smiled. "Enjoy!" She whispered to him before walking away.

He furiously watched her leave and narrowed his eyes...'That conniving little...'

~ o ~

The weather was perfect outside. It was cold but the cloudless sky made the sun warm anyone walking through the streets of China. The breeze made it a little hard to stay outside but you would definitely not freeze yourself to death. A laugh could be heard from inside the small café down at the corner where four friends sat conversing and joking around.

"So, I guess she hasn't changed much." Tomoyo said after hearing from her boyfriend what Sakura had just done to Syaoran a couple of hours ago.

Meiling kept laughing at Syaoran's predicament. There was nothing he hated more than to miss time from his training.

"Meiling… it's not funny babe. When we get to practice tomorrow we'll probably have to train harder because your cousin will be in a pissed off mood thanks to Sakura."

"Oh baby, what else can I do?" Meiling replied as she wiped the small tears from her eyes. "He should've known better than to provoke her."

"Well yeah… but still, who knows if we'll be able to hangout tomorrow because of him. Everyone knows when he is in a bad mood practices go on forever. It sucks that we have to pay for Sakura's crazy ideas." Kyu said.

"Well, we all know Syaoran can be a little difficult to deal with sometimes." Tomoyo sighed and smiled. "Oh I haven't been into this place in such a long time it's kind of refreshing. We should probably go sightseeing after your tournament. What do you say Eriol?"

"I think we can do something better. We can all go to auntie's house down in the outskirts. It has a beautiful sight and we'll probably be able to relax for a few days until we start practice again for the World Cup." Eriol smiled at Tomoyo.

"Well, that's not a bad idea. We can even go horse riding. I haven't done that in years." Meiling excitedly said. She could already imagine herself staying at the cabin with her boyfriend and her friends enjoying her small vacations before having to travel again for work purposes. "I can ask auntie if she can let us stay for at least a weekend."

"Leave it to you to want to go horse riding in such a cold weather." Kyu jokingly said.

"Oh baby, but it's really nice to go horse riding even in this weather. Wait till you see where the house is located at, then you'll understand why."

"I'd say the first thing we need to do is get your cousin to go along with it. I'm almost certain instead of wanting vacations he'll most likely make us practice instead. Then you can ask your aunt if we can stay Eriol." Kyu said.

The bell chime that was placed on the door of the small café rang announcing that another customer had just entered. Since Eriol was the one facing the door, he was the one that saw her first.

"Xiefa!" he said.

She looked to see her cousin and smiled. She turned towards the store server and ordered, "Two vanilla lattes to go please." After giving her order she walked towards them. She was dressed very professionally in knee length black dress. On top of it she covered herself with her salmon colored leather coat that matched the color of her heels. "Well, well, well, fancy finding all of you here."

"Well, not all of us. As it is your brother is doing some good for the community." Kyu mockingly said.

She chuckled and smiled all knowingly. "So, I've heard."

Eriol noticed she wasn't moved by the news and asked, "You knew Sakura would do this?"

She nodded.

"And you let her go through with it?" Eriol asked.

She rolled her eyes at him and dismissed his questions with a wave of her hand. "Oh come on, it's not like he's doing something bad or anything."

"He's your brother Xiefa. You know how much he hates missing practice."

She shrugged Eriol's comment. "Sakura is one of the persons in charge of the Kahi tournament as well as the advertisements for both tournaments. Whatever she wants, she'll get."

"I didn't know you were that close to her." Meiling said.

She smiled at Meiling. "We are friends but other than that, both of these tournaments need to be a success. That is why father entrusted her with this as well as me."

"Well I can see why she would get him to do this but the way she did it… don't you think it was a little harsh?" Kyu asked her.

Meiling looked at him, "Really? You were the one that was complaining about this whole thing in the first place."

"Well yeah babe, but if what Xiefa is saying is right, then Sakura is only taking advantage of Syaoran's popularity. Right…?"

"Two vanilla lattes to go!" the waiter announced.

Xiefa smiled. "I'll just say this… She knows what she's doing and exactly what needs to be done to get the expected results. I'll see you guys later!" She winked at them before turning to get her order, paying for it, and walking out of the coffee place.

Kyu waited for Xiefa to be out of the restaurant before saying, "You know… I'm not sure if finding Sakura again is a good thing after all."

"Why?" Tomoyo asked.

Kyu shrugged, "It's just a hunch."

Meiling sighed, "Baby, you don't think he'll go back to her after what she did?"

"I don't know Meiling. You didn't see him when we saw her the first time in the hotel."

She looked at him quickly, "Don't you know my cousin Kyu? He may have loved her once but he's too proud to go after someone who left him like she did. I mean… she practically cut us all out of her life when she left. What makes you think that he would go back to her?"

Tomoyo shook her head, "Maybe Kyu is right Meiling. After all, Syaoran never told us what happened that day. The only thing he did say was that everything had been his fault."

Meiling scoffed and proudly said, "Syaoran is a Li. There's no way he would go back to her."

Eriol sighed, "Well, as much as I like spending time like this, we should probably go too. Practice starts in two hours. Don't want to be late." He got up from the table and helped Tomoyo to get up as well by grabbing her hand.

Kyu nodded and got up as well with Meiling. The four of them exited the café and headed towards their respective cars. As Eriol approached his white Porsche with Tomoyo in hand, he saw many photographers taking pictures of them as well as pictures from Meiling getting into Kyu's black Maserati. He shook his head and sighed. 'Don't they ever get tired?' he thought before closing Tomoyo's door and getting on the driver's side. After putting on his shades he drove away.

~ o ~

He had just arrived at the community center where he would be offering the signed soccer balls to the kids thanks to a not-so-lovable person for him after all. 'That little minx!' It wasn't that he didn't like kids or doing charity work to help the community, it was just that he felt awkward around kids. What soccer player of his age knew how to handle this...? If given the choice between playing and doing this he would definitely preferred playing. It was so much easier, so much more natural for him.

He looked at the poor developed soccer field in the community from the limousine's window and sighed. It was full of kids already. Some of them were hand in hand with their parents, others he could see were by themselves, but it was needless to say the place was packed. He wasn't even sure there were enough soccer balls for each of the kids.

He opened his door and got out. He could hear many of the kids screaming excitedly at his mere presence and pointing at him. He waved and smiled which only increased their excitement. He could feel himself growing anxious with every step he took and a little claustrophobic as he got nearer the middle of the field but he was already here. A blond lady smiled at him from the middle of the field. He knew he had seen her somewhere before, only he couldn't put his finger on where. He tried to remember but was cut short when she grabbed the microphone and announced the commencement of the community event.

He had been asked to play a little with the kids, which off course he did. They played one game of about thirty minutes which to his surprised he really enjoyed. Then a couple of pictures were taken of everyone that participated in the match with him in the middle. At the end, he was asked to sit in the middle of the field in front of a rectangle wooden table to sign the balls. The kids made a line and he started signing balls and occasionally took pictures with the kids who asked for pictures with him.

"Wow Mr. Li! You're my favorite player in the whole world." he saw a short black haired kid about seven years old say to him. Something about this kid's face caught Syaoran's attention. He remembered when he was younger his eyes used to shine like this kids' whenever he saw a soccer game on TV.

He laughed a little embarrassed, "Thanks! You can call me Syaoran, really." He saw the kid smiled all the way excitedly and felt better. "So uh, what's your name?"

"Kenji. I saw your last goal on Japan, it was awesome!"

"Thanks! How old are you? Do you play?"

Kenji nodded. "I'm seven and I'm going to be the best player in the world, just like you!"

"Alright!" He started signing the ball putting the kids name on it. "Are you coming to the cup?"

He saw the kid's smile reduced itself to a sad smile. "Well, I asked father if we could go but he says the tickets are too expensive. But we'll watch it on TV." The kid smiled again at him.

He finished putting the dedication on the ball and gave it to the kid. "Well, here you go."

"Wow!" he looked at Syaoran again and happily said, "Thank you Mr. Li... I mean Syaoran." The kid turned towards his father excitedly. "Daddy quick the picture!"

The kid pose at his side and his father quickly took a picture with his cell phone. Kenji quickly went to see it and smiled excitedly. "Thank you again Mr. Li!"

Syaoran chuckled. "Anytime. Stay out of trouble!"

The kid waved his goodbye to Syaoran and left with his father. 'Well, this isn't so bad.' He thought as he prepared himself to sign the next one.

One by one he signed all the soccer balls. He had been correct about his first assumption, three hundred soccer balls were not enough so he had ordered for some more to be brought on so each kid could take their signed soccer ball today. It was dark already and he was getting ready to leave when he felt a hand grabbed his arm. He looked around to find the event announcer smiling sweetly at him.

"Don't tell me you don't remember me...?" she said.

He casually smiled, "Should I?"

"Syaoran! The boat, some wine cups, the walk on the beach?"

"Oh! Katherine! I knew I had seen you before."

She provocatively smiled at him and nodded. "You should have stayed till the morning."

He chuckled. "I usually get up early to workout."

"I'm pretty sure you could have workout just fine even after staying." She moved her hands up and down sensually over his arm while battling her eyes at him. "I woke up very cold that morning thanks to you."

"Well, how about I make it up to you. Dinner some time?" he confidently asked already knowing the answer.

She nodded. "I heard you're not allowed to go anywhere outside of the hotel."

He smirked, "News travel fast."

"You have no idea. So, is tomorrow good for you?"

"I'll check my calendar and let you know." He smiled before turning around and getting into the black limousine that was waiting for him with his manager inside.

He closed the door and waited for it. "She's very pretty, a bombshell no doubt…" His manager sarcastically said before warning him, "She works in the media Syaoran. Don't be stupid about this."

"It was only one night a long time ago. You don't have to worry about that Choi." He rubbed his eyes. For the first time in years he was really tired yet he felt good about it.

"I worry because I know what people like her would do if you give them the chance of being in your life."

He ignored his manager as he looked out the window at the houses in the community, "Speak with Sakura. She probably has a list of all the kids that assisted this event. Ask her if she can get World Cup tickets for them and one family member."

Choi stared dumbfounded at him. "What? You've never done this before. What has changed?"

"Just do it Choi." He said tiredly closing his eyes.

~ o ~

The next morning, she had finally found time early in the morning to be in her office. While she was drinking her hot coffee she was going through some of the quotes to repair the field lighting. She had asked Suri the day before to please call places and ask for quotes in order to take care of everything today.

She heard a knock on her door followed by Syaoran entering her office without her permission and closing the door behind him. 'My eyes must be playing tricks on me.' He was wearing a long sleeve gray t-shirt, which wasn't too tight but you could still see his muscular defined arms with it, blue jeans and a pair of sneakers.

He smiled at her surprised expression, "I saw your Guinea Pig on TV last night... was surprised to see him alone. Very elegant in his suit and everything, right there next to his father..."

"What are you doing here? Get out."

"This is my building, even if I'm not running it... remember?" he arrogantly said as he walked towards her desk and placed a folder in front of her.

She sighed and took the folder. She went through the papers to check everything was done correctly. "This is your father's building, and I didn't know you cared at all."

He smiled at her and started walking around curiously. She had a very modern taste when it came to her office furniture. A lot of dark brown and white pieces adorned it. Nothing like the Sakura he knew back then who loved a lot of pink. Her office could be defined as someone who took her work very seriously. 'Well, I guess that hasn't changed.'

"I would have never imagined you liked politics that much. You must have very entertaining conversations with his friends and all..." he sarcastically said.

She watched him stroll around her office looking around it. First he saw the view she had from her office which was in the 47th floor. Since the windows were all glass, he was able to see most of the city through them. Then he saw her glass desk in shape of an L with a full computer on it and an Ipad docked at the side. And finally he saw a wooden bookshelf at his left side full of books. Some of them he could tell were college books. Others were probably books she had bought on the side to read for research purposes.

"Are you done analyzing my office?"

He smirked at her and picked a frame from the bookshelf. She was standing right next to Jun in an elegant emerald dress that reached all the way to the floor. She was about his same height with heels on. "I guess this office suits you. I mean, you did leave everything behind so you could have a better life. I'm assuming that is why you left." He suddenly looked at her. "I must say, Kate did throw us a very good prom by the way, after you stood her up... I mean."

She rolled her eyes at him and walked towards him to take the picture frame back from him but he put it back before she reached him. "If you must know, I did stay in contact with Kate even after leaving. The only difference was that back then I left her in charge and told her that if she needed my help with anything to just give me a call or email me. She must not have told you anything, but I did help her with most of the activities leading to the prom without needing to be there in person. Did you honestly think I could be that irresponsible?"

He smiled at her. "Off course not. Always work before anything else. I guess that still hasn't changed."

She sighed. "Why are you here?"

"I came to apologize for the photo shoot agreement. I honestly didn't mean to make you lose your time."

She looked at his eyes and raised her eyebrow, "You don't apologize."

"I'm not the same person you knew seven years ago. Even if you don't believe it, people can change. More so if you give them seven years to do so..." the last part he said in a low voice as an afterthought but she was able to catch what he said. She could tell he was being honest, but there was still a part of her that didn't trust him.

"I accept your apology and now you will leave. I have a lot of stuff I need to take care of and I have less than ten months to do so."

"There is another reason for my visit."

"Off course there is. Do you need me to offer you a seat?"

"No, not at all. But I do want to call a truce."

She looked at him questioningly. "A truce?"

He nodded. "I'll stop being a jerk, as you called me earlier."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "What's in it for you?"

He smirked, "I want to at least try to be friends again."

She sighed and rolled her eyes, "Syaoran-"

"I know what you're thinking, but Sakura even before we started dating years ago we could still talk and have fun like friends do. And right now I'll be in China for almost a year, you're working for my father's company, I don't want us to be awkward because of something that happened between us in the past. I mean, we both have grown up. I'm pretty sure there's no problem in us trying to be friends again."

She thought about it quickly. It wasn't that she wasn't willing to do so, but their relationship in the past had never been a peaceful one. They had their fights along with their fiery romantic reconciliations. She wasn't sure if they could be friends again after all that had transpired between them but right now she didn't have time to think clearly about his proposal. "Fine."

"I mean it Sakura."

"I know and I said it was fine. We can try but it will be later. For now, I have a lot of work so... the door is right over there." She pointed at the door.

"I will call you later. The others will probably want to see you as well." He said walking towards the door.

"You don't have my number."

He smirked. "You forget my sister is Xiefa." he said all knowingly before opening the door to leave.

"Syaoran!" she called before he got out. He turned around to look at her. "His name is Jun, not Guinea Pig."

He smirked and mockingly chuckled. "Off course, how could I forget...? I'll see you around." and with that he closed the door after leaving. She sighed and went back to her desk to finish what she was doing before he showed up.

~ o ~

Instead of practicing only in the afternoon just like they always did, they had practice at eleven in the morning and then continued to their afternoon practice at four. Syaoran had asked the coach to have double practice today since he thought they needed all the practice they could get before the tournament. None of the players were surprised by this considering he had missed yesterday's practice. So after doing their routinely warm up, they started doing the play sequences. The team was divided into four groups. Two of the groups were scrimmaging in one half of the field where Syaoran was placed, while the other group was with Mark on the other side.

He was jogging on the right side of the field while watching the rest of his teammates perform the play from the left. He noticed Kyu, who was playing for his team, was open on the left side to receive the ball and score. Eriol, who was playing against him, was on his right side watching him from getting an opening to score. Xiun received the ball from the left side line and kicked it quickly to the middle where another one of his teammates was waiting for it.

"Stop!" Everyone looked at Syaoran. "Xiun what are you doing? You need to bring the ball inside. Otherwise, the rest of your teammates will have too many guys to be able to make a goal. Your job is to take their defense with you when you come in so that the rest of your team can have a better possibility at scoring. Did you even see Kyu was open in the first place? Kicking the ball straight to the middle is not very smart considering their best defense is there. Find your opponent's weakness and execute. Let's go again." He said.

If looks could kill, Syaoran would be dead by now after the look Xiun gave him before turning around and muttering to himself. "Damn stupid jerk! I'll show him smart…"

Eriol chuckled and looked at Syaoran who was in front of him. "Syaoran, give the poor guy a break."

"He needs to learn Eriol. A mistake like that could cost us the game." He waited for the ball to reach Gee who was in the sideline. Gee took the ball and again passed it to Xiun.

On the sidelines, their coach was watching the whole practice with his hands crossed on his chest and a smile on his face. The assistant coach was at his side writing down some notes on a notepad.

"Are you ever going to talk to Li about his attitude? Some of the guys are complaining about it."

The coach smirked as he watched Xiun receive the ball and ran towards the middle with it. He combined speed with a couple of fake passes to take most of the other team's defense with him leaving Syaoran open on the right side. Instead of passing the ball to Kyu, like Syaoran had suggested, he passed the ball to Syaoran who in turned scored the goal.

"Do you still think I should talk to Li about his attitude?" he chuckled and shook his head while his assistant sighed and shook his head. "I thought so."

~ o ~

She had received the pictures from Joe last night just like he had told her she would. He gave her two manila envelopes full of pictures, one for each team. Since she had been too busy to see them last night, she had decided to take them tonight to her apartment where she could peacefully look through them. She poured herself a cup of red wine and started watching the pictures. This was her typical Friday night these days unless her boyfriend was around.

After a couple of minutes she was able to decide which ones she wanted from the Italian team. She set the ones she choose on the side of her glass coffee table and opened the other envelope. She started discarding the ones she immediately knew she didn't wanted and put them back on the envelope. The ones she wanted she started setting them on the coffee table just like she had done for the Italian team.

She picked the picture with Kyu, Eriol, Syaoran, and their coach first. Then she chose the individual pictures for Mark, Kyu, and Eriol without much difficulty. But, when she got to see Syaoran's individual pictures she got stuck. She had to admit she liked almost all of them. He looked good kicking the ball, he looked good doing the serious pose, and he looked good with the ball and smiling. He just looked good in all of them. She kept going through them until she saw the last one. She felt her heart skip a beat. He was standing with the ball on his hands and flashing his famous smirk. It still troubled her how she still found that smirk so sexy on him. She suddenly remembered when she took the agreement papers to him. He had that same smirk on his face as he reclined himself on the hotel's doorframe and although she faked her indifference to him, she couldn't deny she still felt something that night.

She placed the picture on the coffee table as she rubbed her fingers through her eyes and took another sip of her cup. She needed a break. This was troublesome indeed. She knew she needed to keep a clear head to choose these pictures correctly. Her phone suddenly rang signaling she had just received a text.

*Brunch tomorrow?

She looked at it and re-read it several times before remembering what Syaoran had told her in the morning. 'So Xiefa gave him my phone number after all… That little traitor!' she thought narrowing her eyes. She planned on just ignoring him but then decided against it knowing that if she didn't answer his text he was capable of appearing on her office again tomorrow morning to pick her up.

*Where?

*Asashi's at nine? The girls love that place.

*Okay!

*See you there. Good Night!

She looked at the message but didn't answer back. She wasn't even sure she should have agreed to the whole friend thing in the first place. 'It's only brunch.' She thought. And the girls would be there, right? I mean… what was wrong with that? It wasn't like she was doing something inappropriate or anything. She was just going to spend time with her friends from high school again. She finished her wine cup and nodded to herself. 'This is only a friendly brunch, nothing else.' She thought before taking the cup to the sink and turning in for the night.

**Author's Note: **Well, chapter 3 is done. Once again, thank you all of you who reviewed my first and second chapters. It really helps to know how you guys feel about this story. I hope you guys like the third chapter and please read and review so I know what you guys think about this one.


	4. Chapter 4 - Where there was fire

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from Card Captor Sakura. I sadly just own the plot although if the owner wishes to give me Syaoran as a gift I would take him in a heartbeat.**

"_**Fall in love with someone who wants you, who waits for you, who understands you even in the madness; someone who helps you, and guides you, someone who is your support, your hope. Fall in love with someone who talks with you after a fight. Fall in love with someone who misses you and wants to be with you. Do not fall in love only with a body or with a face; or with the idea of being in love." - Unknown**_

**Chapter 4  
>Where there was fire, ashes remain<strong>

A small wooden porch like restaurant could be seen from the distance where she parked her car with big letters on a sign that read 'Asashi Restaurant' in front. 'I can't believe he picked a place forty five minutes away.' As she had agreed to, she was at the restaurant at nine. She walked in through the doors and loved the interior design right away. Rustic wooden tables of different shapes were placed around the restaurant. The roof was adorned with hanging red and white Chinese lamps and the red and brown jars around the corners gave the feeling of calmness once you walked inside. She knew this wasn't your normal luxurious restaurant but more like a family oriented place to hang out and eat.

At the sound of the door, he looked towards it to find Sakura dressed in a knee length pencil style black skirt that reached all the way to her middle section with an emerald green silky blouse, a white coat covering her from the cold that reached all the way to her knee, and black pumps. He smiled at her. "Hey, you're on time!"

She noticed that, out of pure coincidence, Syaoran was the only one there to greet her on time. He was dressed in a very sporty casual way wearing a long black sleeve shirt with jeans on and a red baseball cap which was hard to miss. She was about to say something when the waiter came in, "Your table is ready sir."

Syaoran nodded. He had already asked for their table when he came in. "Come on."

She nodded and followed him. The waiter took them all the way through the inside of the restaurant till he opened a door on the back. The small space had a balcony look with two wooden tables to seat six people on the right side and four tables to seat couples throughout the middle which could also be used to seat four people if the tables were joined together. The glass walls protected them from the outside cold air while still giving the place a cute traditional balcony look.

The waiter sat them on the farthest table from the door far on the corner which was a little separated from the rest of the tables and where they could appreciate the mountain scenery through the glass. They took a seat as they waited on the rest of their friends to arrive.

"May I bring you something to drink?" the waiter offered.

"Two mimosas okay with you?" he asked her. After she nodded, the waiter left with their orders. "You could've brought Tails with you, if you wanted..." he said while taking the chair in front of her.

Even though he was trying to hide it, she heard the amusement in his words. She kept her cool collected calm face on before answering, "I've heard you've become quite the player these past couple of years."

"I've been playing for a while, in case you haven't noticed. Will be the best after this summer…"

She rolled her eyes at him, "I meant with women."

He smirked, "Well, to find someone that's honest it's a little hard for me."

She acted all surprised and asked, "Are you even looking for that?"

"I may be staring at her right now."

She kept her stare at him and scoffed. "I can't believe after getting your freedom you'd want something serious all of the sudden."

"You should try it some time. The freedom part I mean…"

"I never saw a relationship as a jail to begin with." She took a deep breath before trying to change the subject. "So, what's good in here?" she said while taking a glance at the menu. She couldn't deny that his words made her feel a little uneasy but she was determined not to show him any sign that would indicate so.

He stared at her and smiled before looking at the menu as well. "I've heard their French toast on brioche bread are the best." He said. Since he met her, he knew this was one of her favorite breakfast dishes back then. He hoped she still loved them like she used to.

"Sounds good. I think I may be having that." She put the menu down and tried to control her nervousness. When she looked up, she saw him going through the menu. She took the opportunity to observe him while he was browsing it hoping he wouldn't notice. She noticed he still moved his brow whenever he read something he didn't like on the menu. It had always amazed her how he could be so decisive about certain things but the simplest ones he always had trouble deciding. It had been so long ago and yet she felt as if nothing had changed. But something had changed that dreadful night. The burning in her heart was a constant reminder of it. "Did you by any chance tell them to be here at nine?"

"Yeah." He carelessly said still looking at the menu.

She stared at him not believing him for one minute. It almost made her smile to see that he still couldn't look at her whenever he lied. "Oh, before I forget." She took out of her purse an envelope. "I need to know which pictures you like best."

He looked at her curiously, "Aren't you the expert on this?"

"Yes, but I want to know your opinion on them."

He put the menu down and reached to take the envelope with a smirk on his face, "What? Did you like all of them?"

She rolled her eyes at him, "Just pick five."

He smiled at her while looking at some of the pictures. "So, how did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Get into Li Enterprises? If I remember correctly, to be in this company you need at least a Bachelor's Degree and you actually left in the middle of high school." He said as he chose the five pictures he liked the best and gave them to her.

She smiled, "Your mother took care of everything. I only had to study and send my exams."

The mention of his mother's involvement caught his attention, "And you trusted her?"

"I'm here aren't I?" She confidently said.

He stared at her, "My mother doesn't usually do things out of charity…"

"Well, well, well… If it isn't runaway Sakura."

She looked to her right at the body behind the intruding voice and smiled. "Meiling, long time no see."

They had all arrived together. She watched as Meiling sat down to her right with Kyu on her side, and Eriol and Tomoyo sat on her left. "That was some drastic getaway by the way…"

"Meiling…"

Sakura noticed Kyu's warning voice before answering, "I'm not going to apologize for leaving because sooner or later I would've left anyways. But I will apologize for not staying in contact with any of you. I've missed you all."

"Some more than others, right?" Meiling jokingly asked.

Sakura chuckled and smirked, "You haven't changed at all have you?" The rest of them laughed. She knew this whole meeting would feel awkward at first but it was something she needed to break the ice. It was true that she had missed them over the years. Sometimes, when she was in her apartment alone, she let her mind wander through the past and laugh remembering some of the pranks they used to pull on each other when they were younger.

"And what do you mean you were leaving anyways?" Meiling asked.

"Well, I wanted to study project management and the best university for that is here in China."

"I thought you wanted to study closer to home?" Kyu asked.

She shook her head and sadly smiled. Home, that word felt so distant to her. Perhaps because she had tried to erase so many memories from the time she had spent there. She sighed and tried to change the subject, "I'm surprised none of you are married by now."

Tomoyo smiled sweetly at Eriol before saying, "Well, Eriol and I got engaged last year."

Sakura curiously looked at Tomoyo, "I'm sure if someone like Eriol would have gotten engaged it would be all over the news. I don't recall hearing or reading anything on your engagement."

Eriol smiled, "We decided to keep it a secret for now. Only our families and closest friends know about it. We're planning to do it after the cup."

Sakura nodded and then looked towards Kyu and Meiling.

"Don't look at us. We haven't fight about it yet." Meiling carelessly said.

She chuckled while the rest of them laughed. Since the moment they had started dating back in high school Sakura couldn't remember them staying two straight months together without fighting.

"What about you? How long have you been dating Senator Eli's son?" Eriol asked.

"Jun and I have been dating for almost two years now."

"Is he as good as his father on politics?" Syaoran asked. He had been observing her since their friends arrived without getting too much into the conversation.

She caught the hidden message on Syaoran's question. She remembered a conversation they had in the past where he tried to convince her that all politicians were liars. "He's different than many of today's politicians."

"Oh! So are we hearing wedding bells for you two as well?" Tomoyo excitedly asked no doubt already imagining a way to have a double wedding next year.

Sakura, uncomfortable with the question, turn her head from Tomoyo. She could feel Syaoran's prying eyes waiting for her answer. She saw the waiter coming in with the mimosas. 'Oh! Just in time' she thought before saying, "We have talked about it but haven't decided on anything yet." She received her mimosa and quickly took a sip while the rest of them started to give the waiter their orders.

~o~

Suri spotted Xiefa down the corridor. By the looks of it she was heading towards her father's office.

"Xiefa!"

Xiefa stopped mid way and waited for Suri to reach her. "Talk with me as you walk. My father's waiting."

Suri nodded and started walking along with Xiefa. "I need to ask a favor of you?"

"Why do I get the feeling this somehow has to do with my brother..." She said in a low voice.

"It does, but not in any way you can possibly imagine."

Xiefa grunted. She could read Suri's infatuation with her brother all over her face. She didn't understand why every woman that Syaoran made contact with could easily fall for him. Even when he didn't treat them right they would fall for him. I mean, who could possibly accept that? "You should speak to his manager if this concerns him."

"Well you see I did try to reach his manager and left him messages but he still hasn't answered me back and the tournament is this weekend."

"Doesn't that give you a clue?" she bitchily replied.

"It does but even this clue will not be excuse enough for Sakura. Please, please I need your help."

Xiefa reached her father's office and sighed. She turned towards Suri and asked, "What is this favor you need?"

"Some of your father's business partners attending this event want to spend a little time around him with their families. You know, like a VIP exclusive section with him. Do you think you can talk to him about it?"

Xiefa smirked. "How about I give you his phone number and you call him and ask?"

Suri could feel her heart rate rapidly increasing at the thought of getting Li's personal phone number. She knew not every girl had that luck. Her thoughts made her smile before looking at Xiefa, "I could definitely call him and ask him personally if he can do this. I know this will also please your father as well."

Xiefa looked at Suri's naive face and scoffed, "Suri… for your own good stop daydreaming about my brother. He's not the type to stay with one girl and if he were ever to change his mind I have a slight feeling he already knows who he wants."

Suri smiled slowly faded, "Is he dating anyone?"

Xiefa rolled her eyes and shook her head while simply opening the door to her father's office and closing it after getting inside. She had definitely gotten her mother's genes when it came to having patience and dealing with people.

She watched her father standing in front of his huge window enjoying the look from his office with his hands behind his back. He didn't turn to greet her but instead asked, "Where's Sakura? Usually she's here before any of us."

Xiefa sat down in one of the leather chairs in front of his desk and crossed her legs. "She took the morning off." She thought not to indulge too much on Sakura's whereabouts despite her curiosity of wanting to know how her father would react to the news that her brother had invited Sakura to a brunch. She stared at his calmed body lacking of any reaction towards her answer while watching the busy streets of China. Thirty years she had lived with her father and there had never been a moment where she could've guessed what he was thinking.

He silently smiled and smirked at his daughter's answer. She still had much to learn about hiding things from him but it always made him feel proud to know she would still try to. "I'm planning on proposing an agreement to Steven about investing in the tournament."

She raised her brow as she analyzed her father's words. "He is our biggest competition in the market right now father. Do you think this is wise?"

"I'm not talking about a permanent agreement."

"But still, we won the bid for the tournament. We should keep it within our company alone."

He turned to look at his daughter with a smile on his face. "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer, Xiefa. Although in this case he is not my enemy he is indeed our biggest competition in the market as we both know. I won't let this tournament be a distraction to let him invest in other proposals we don't have access to because we were too busy dealing with the tournament. The best way right now to keep him at bay is to make him as busy as we are."

Xiefa nodded. "Do you want me to talk to him?"

Xian shook his head. "I'll give this one to Sakura once she comes back."

"Mother won't be pleased about this. She wanted this tournament to be ours only. She worked really hard for it too."

He smiled at her, "Leave your mother to me."

She sighed but nodded nonetheless.

~o~

Meiling sighed after coming down from laughing so hard, "Feels good to spend time this way. Just like old times…"

Sakura heard Meiling's comment and nodded. They had just finished brunch and were getting ready to leave. After standing up she put on her coat. She heard her phone's ringtone signaling a text message had just arrived. She searched her bag for almost a minute before finally finding it. She unlocked her phone by sliding her finger through it which took her instantly to the message.

*The flower arrangement that you wanted just arrived. Also, Joe called wondering if you've already made up your decision on the pictures. And last, Mr. Li wants you to meet a client of his. He said to tell you to meet him at Cali Sports Bar at 1:00pm

She looked at her watch and sighed. It was almost 12:45pm and one of the things she hated the most was going to a restaurant after eating. Brunch had been delicious. She could clearly see why Syaoran had chosen this place even if it was far from the city. The place was definitely one she would write a note-to-self to come visit again. But after reading the text, going to another restaurant while still feeling full was not something she would rather do. 'At least it's a sports bar.' She thought before walking out of the restaurant with her friends. "Well, I have to go."

"Aw! So soon?" Kyu whined.

She smiled and nodded. "I have to meet some clients now. This was nice. We should do this again some other time."

"We definitely should." Tomoyo said.

"I can go with you if you want…?" Syaoran offered.

She scoffed, "Since when are you concern for your family business?"

He smirked, "I've always wanted to know how it's doing. I just do it quietly on my own terms."

"If you are that concern on how it's doing go to the office and ask for the financial statements. Right now, I need to go."

"You know, isn't it better to watch how the employees develop themselves in their areas than watching and analyzing numbers? I think it's better if I go with you and find for myself how my father's business works. Who knows… Maybe I'll finally get interested in this whole family business like my father has always wanted me to." He tried to convince her. They hadn't had too much time in the restaurant to talk as their friends came a little earlier than he had anticipated.

"No you will not!" she stared at him to let him know she was being very serious about this. She took a deep breath and looked at one of the corners. She had been right all along, "I'm not sure if anyone has told you this but that stupid baseball cap doesn't work for you."

The guys chuckled at her comment while this time it was Syaoran the one that scoffed. "What does the cap has to do with me going with you?"

"There are more than 50 reporters right now around these corners taking hundreds of pictures from you talking to me right now. Neither of us needs the trouble." She saw her phone rang and picked up. "I'm on my way." She said before she turned around and walked towards her car leaving them on the sidewalk.

Syaoran watched her walked away and narrowed his eyes as she got in her silver sport Audi and drove off to wherever she was going. Eriol put an arm around his shoulders, "Well… Guess I'm not the only one who thinks putting on this cap is stupid."

"Shut it Eriol!" He said shoving his arm off him.

~o~

It wasn't the place he had chosen when she was told he wanted her to be at lunch for this meeting what surprised her, it was the fact that the meeting was with none other than Steven Makimasi, president of Makimasi Industries. She had heard rumors from his character during some of the seminars she had attended to throughout the year and none of them were good. Some said he was arrogant, others that he was spoiled but to Sakura the one word that defined his character was tyrant. The look this man gave her when she arrived was something that instinctively had bells ringing through her head.

"Ah, Ms. Kinomoto is here." He said while laughing.

Xian turned towards her from their booth and stood up. "Sakura, come on in."

She nodded and took a seat next to him.

"I was speaking to Makimasi here about your last project. He's fascinated by the outcome of it."

Mr. Makimasi smiled at her and nodded, "I've never seen someone invest in a project and have it producing positive outcomes that fast. It is indeed a work to be praised."

She politely replied, "Thank you." She was sure there had to be more to this meeting than her past projects. Xian would never meet this guy if he didn't want something out from him. So she patiently waited until the real reason why she was here would show up in the conversation. She asked the waiter for some water and sat listening to them dancing around words.

Finally when Xian finished eating he said, "I want you to work with us on the tournament. What do you think Makimasi?"

Sakura quickly looked at Xian but didn't say a word.

Makimasi smiled and looked at Sakura, "I've been told you're the one in charge of the tournament."

She calmly looked at him. "You speak of the tournament as if it is the whole thing I'm in charge of."

"After what it's been said of you around business people you don't need to be in charge of everything to produce a good outcome. Some call it a special gift you have."

She kept staring at him. There was nothing from this man that inspired trust for her. And yet, if Xian wanted this then there was nothing else she could do. "I'm only in charge of the advertising."

Xian chuckled, "I have Sakura and Xiefa working on it so as you can see there is nothing you should feel worried about. I know that here in China we are competitors yet this tournament is a worldwide event. We could work in unity to have viewers and fans enjoy one of the best tournaments in history. I believe you can be part of this history we are making this year. What do you think?"

Makimasi looked at Xian and smiled, "I'll have to think about it Li. We both know decisions made in a hurry could cost us dearly."

Xian wiped his lips with the black apron after finishing his last bite. "I'll give you some time to think about it then. But I will need your answer soon."

Makimasi nodded. "Well, I have to go now. Much to do today." He stood up and was about to get his wallet out of his pocket when Xian stopped him.

"It's on me." Xian said.

Makimasi nodded and turned towards Sakura. He once again smiled, "It was a great pleasure meeting you today Ms. Kinomoto."

She nodded but didn't say more. She waited until Makimasi was out of the restaurant before turning towards Xian. "Since when do we need his help to make this tournament a successful one?"

"I want you to keep an eye on him. There are rumors around he wants to invest in a big project that could put us on edge if the project passes."

"And getting him into the tournament would make a difference?"

"Let me worry about the company's decisions."

"I don't trust that guy Xian."

"Neither do I. This is why I need you to keep an eye on him. Make sure he signs an agreement of investing in the tournament."

She sighed but agreed to anyways.

~ o ~

The weekend came quickly. For it been the beginning of March the weather was irregularly colder than normal but the tournament was already on the way. Four years ago they had lost the World Cup tournament in the semifinals. As a team, they had been preparing since that moment for this years' tournament and part of that preparation was this scrimmage with Italy.

"They say the field is packed." Xiun excitedly said.

"Let's take this as practice guys. The World Cup will feel a lot much better than today." Mark said focused on the game they were about to play.

"It does feel different doesn't it? To play at home..." Eriol said looking at Syaoran who was behind him waiting in line to go out to the field.

He nodded. "Let's do this." He said before starting to walk towards the field behind his teammates.

He took a deep breath and walked outside and into the field. Adrenaline rush was all he felt as he took his first steps inside the grassy grounds. The excitement of the moment was one of the things he loved about this sport. He focused on the field and tuned out the crowd even when they went wild and yelled louder after seeing him coming out of the locker room.

A little far from the field a red headed woman walked through the VIP room. She walked towards their sits and asked with a notebook on hand ready to take in their bets, "What will your bid be sir?"

"I'm going for a million dollars for each goal my son makes and half a million dollars if any other team player makes the goal." The way he spoke about his son showed pride in his words. He was a mirror image of Syaoran but older. He had to admit at first he didn't even thought his son would do that good in this sport, yet another battle he lost against his wife. He had seen Syaoran's games year after year with his wife, or let's clear that up she made him watch the games with her. The more he watched the more he learned and even came up to fell in love with the game as well.

"Well, it is charming the way you have brought all of this together Li." A man with a white mustache spoke. His expensive watch and professional athletic attire left no doubt he was one of the richest men watching this match. Add to this the fact that he was sitting right next to Li, Xian, the richest man present in the VIP cabin and you get a very important guest for the tournament.

"Sir and for you?" she smiled at the old man.

"I'll give half a million per goal we make." He replied.

Xian laughed. "It is, isn't it Fabrizzio? Ms. Kinomoto was in charge of this one."

Mr. Fabrizzio was one of the Italian team biggest sponsors. "Ah yes! No wonder such precise details in it. I still wonder how you got so lucky Li. And to think she has been under your wing for only five years."

Xian chuckled, "It is what it is John. Have you thought about my suggestion on including Steven on this World Cup event?"

"I have! And yet I don't think he will go along with it. You know Steven, his pride is larger than his monetary account if that's even possible."

"I'll only be giving him a chance of joining us in this worldwide event."

"I think that if you get him to come along, it will definitely be an event worth remembering."

Sakura tried to stay focused on the conversation yet the game was putting her nerves out of control. Every time they had the ball and the other team would steal it away she had to control her anger. She needed to remember she was sitting in the same line as Li Corp. president and that required for her behavior to be almost perfect if that could be possible.

She watched as Eriol passed the ball all the way from the right side to the left side. She held her breath in excitement as Kyu received his pass and kicked the ball to the net but the goalie stopped it. She released her breath again. The game was tied down 0-0 and even if it was an exhibition game to raise funds it still held the same excitement official games did.

"What time does Jun gets in?" Xiefa asked. She was sitting down in between her father and Sakura enjoying the game but more interested in looking around at people's behavior towards the game. If there was one thing Xiefa was perfectly good at was reading people. She wanted to use this game as a means to observe even the smallest detail and analyze what could be done better for the World Cup.

"He comes tonight. Why?"

"Mother wants you to come for dinner tomorrow night."

Sakura knew Yelan very well. What Syaoran told her a few days ago still rested in her mind as she was very aware that Yelan never did things without getting something in return from it. "Did she give you a reason as to why?"

Xiefa shrugged, "She just wants you to come."

She looked at Xiefa and raised her eyebrow, "Should the right question be is your brother going to be there then?"

Xiefa smiled. "Look, Feimei and Fanren came for the week. They will stay till after the tournament finishes or I think two weeks after but that's not the point. It's very rare to have the entire family in town. Even father is getting out early to have dinner too, which almost never happens. And you know my parents consider you almost another daughter. I mean, mother just wants to have a family dinner. Do you think you can make time?"

Sakura sighed and turned her head to watch the game again, "Why is it so hard to believe you?"

Xiefa chuckled, "I don't know if he'll come but I'm almost certain he wouldn't miss it if he is told you will attend."

She scoffed, "So you'll use me to get him to come to dinner?"

Xiefa mockingly looked at her as if she had just been offended, "I would never use you. I'm just saying the whole family dinner would be better accomplished as mother wants it to happen if you agree on coming."

"You just used pretty words to indirectly say you're using me but that's okay. I'll go. But let it be known that I will only go because of your mother."

Xiefa smirked, "Sure, whatever you say. Oh, by the way, we might go out clubbing tomorrow night. When I spoke to Eriol he said it was Mark's birthday so if you guys want you can stay the night at the house."

She nodded, "I'll mention it to Jun. He might want to go out to the club for a couple of hours. If we stay for too long then we'll stay. If not, then we can just go to my apartment later. I'm sure he won't have any trouble with any of the choices but I'll ask him anyways."

The game went to half time with the score still tied down to 0. Sakura sighed, "Will Feimei be bringing her boyfriend to dinner?" she asked smirking already knowing the answer. A couple of months back she had introduced him to the family on her visit during college fall break. Sakura had the pleasure, or the displeasure, of meeting him then. She was only a couple of years younger than Syaoran which only made him be a little over protective when it came to her.

Xiefa chuckled, "If she loves him as much as she says she does then I think she shouldn't. Syaoran would kill him in an instant."

Sakura chuckled, "She better tell him before it gets too late although I have to say dinner would be a lot more interesting if she did bring him over."

"Come now Sakura, we both know the outcome of dinner if she does. Mother wants a peaceful dinner, not a dramatic one."

They watched as the crowd went wild again letting them know that the players were taking up their positions to start the second half. She watched as Xiun passed the ball to Mark to commence the game. Eriol ran from the right corner to receive the ball from Mark. He tried to get into the middle but the Italian player took the ball from him. Syaoran made a dive in front of him and the ball went back to Eriol.

"You look nervous." Xiefa smirked.

"Shut up!" Sakura quickly said still having her eyes glued to the game.

Xiefa chuckled. They watched as Kyu received the ball and drove near to the score line. Two Italians were up against him when he got a little closer but instead of kicking the ball into the net he passed it down to Syaoran who was a little bit farther but only had one guy guarding him. He ran to his right with the ball and increased his speed until the other guy fell behind. He looked at the net and kicked the ball.

Goooooaaaaaalllllll! The crowd went wild again. Sakura got up from her seat and celebrated the goal after watching Xian getting up from his seat. He was proudly celebrating and applauding his son's goal while some of his business partners congratulate him.

The match had ended with a 3-1 win for China, two of the goals scored by Syaoran while the last one was done by Kyu. The guys had stayed in the field signing autographs for the people who had come and watch the match. She watched as a reporter was doing an interview with Kyu in the corner of the field while Eriol was taking a picture with some of the kids who came to watch the game. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Suri walking towards her.

"Sakura!"

She looked at her assistant and waited for her to reach where she was standing.

Suri smiled, "I'm glad to write another success for us. The tournament has done splendidly. Here are the reports on what's been already accounted for. We still haven't finished with the miscellaneous merchandise booth but the photo booth and the electronics booth did great. Also, the money from the sale of food is almost finished."

She nodded. "How much have we collected net after all adjustments?"

"Well, we still need the rest of the numbers but I can say we have been able to collect almost 78% of our projection goal for this event with the numbers we already have in. Once the rest of the numbers-"

She looked towards the field and was taken aback by the sight before her. Syaoran was playing with some of the kids that had been participants of the community event she had set up for him a week ago. She could tell they were the same kids as she had seen the picture of the event a couple of days later.

"But, like I said, once the rest of the numbers are in we can get a clear-"

Something tugged at her heart. Suddenly she wasn't hearing Suri anymore but was more mesmerized by the image of Syaoran playing soccer with some of the kids. She watched as one of them tried to grab his shirt to hold him and steal the ball while he laughed. In all her years knowing him she had never seen him playing with kids so carelessly. She could feel a smile slowly creeping into her face when she saw him grab the kid by his waist and run with him and the ball at the same time into the direction of the goal net.

"So I should think the numbers will be in by tonight. Do you want me to send them to your email or just update your iCloud spreadsheet?" Suri looked up and noticed she wasn't paying attention anymore. She followed the direction Sakura's eyes were directed at and scoffed. "Don't take this the wrong way but he's not a one woman kind of man."

She looked at Suri but didn't say anything towards her comment.

"And what is he doing there? I told him he needed to greet the VIP guests. President Li will be furious if he doesn't." Suri said before walking towards him.

"Ms. Kinomoto!"

She looked towards the left from where the voice had come from and smile. "Coach! Congratulations on your win!"

He chuckled and smiled. "Oh thanks, though I'm not sure if I should be congratulating you instead."

She waited for him to continue. "This whole exhibition match was your idea." He nodded his face to signal the field towards where Syaoran was playing with the kids. "I'm sure they will appreciate the help you will be able to give them with the money that was raised from this match."

She watched as Syaoran suddenly looked at them with a smile on his face. "They sure will." She said before turning her face towards the coach and smile. She waited for the coach to leave and looked back at the field. She had to admit her thoughts were suddenly taking a dangerous turn. She started desiring something she hadn't thought about for a long time.

"You know... If you still feel something for my brother you should break up with that idiot you call boyfriend."

She sighed tiredly before turning around and walking towards the entrance where the merchandise was being sold. "It didn't work seven years ago, I'm sure it won't work now either."

"At least this time you're not denying you know." Xiefa smirked.

She rolled her eyes, "Whatever Xiefa." She said before walking away.

~ o ~

She was eating dinner with Jun on her apartment like each night he was in China yet something felt different. There was something that had been plaguing her mind since the tournament and she didn't even know how to get it off her mind. That image of Syaoran with the kids had left her thinking there was something missing in her life yet she didn't know what.

"What's wrong with you? You've been quiet all dinner." Jun said as he took some of his wine.

"Do you want kids?" She blurted out of the blue.

He was surprised by her question but nevertheless answered it, "What do you mean? Like right now?"

She shook her head nervously, "Not right now. But in the future, have you thought of having kids?"

"I wasn't aware that you have thought this far away Sakura."

"Is not something you have to answer now if you haven't thought about it."

"I have thought about it, along with many other things. I just didn't want to pressure you about any of them."

She looked questionably at him, "Really?"

"I have thought about having three kids, if that's okay with you."

Suddenly she felt weird like she lacked air by the mere thought of this conversation, "Maybe we're not ready to have this talk yet."

"No, let's talk about this."

"Jun-" she ran her hands through her hair something she did every time she would get nervous about something not wanting to indulge in this conversation any longer.

He smiled at her. "Sakura, we're only talking. I don't want to do anything we're not ready for but really baby there's nothing wrong with talking about it."

She gave in, "I don't want three kids."

"Okay, then how many do you want?"

"One… Maybe two."

"Then we can have two, after we get married off course."

She drank a little more wine before saying, "I'm not ready to get married."

He chuckled. "I know."

She closed her eyes apologetically, "I'm sorry."

He grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "Baby, we'll have time when you're ready to decide. For now, I enjoy spending time with you just as we are."

She smiled at him, "I do to."

~ o ~

The next morning she did her routine as usual. She woke up at 4:00 in the morning and prepared to have her long jog. After last night's conversation with Jun, she was looking forward eagerly to this time of the morning. She usually went running to clear her head. It helped her be more awake and aware with her office duties.

She placed her phone into her arm band which was tied on top of her sweatshirt. Tying her running shoes and taking her apartment key on hand, she stood out and welcomed the coolness of the weather as she locked the door and started her jog.

The Kahi match had been a success. Suri had texted the final numbers and they had been able to collect more than they had thought they would. Her team had done a marvelous job at getting everything on time and working hard to achieve the goal. That was something she would definitely had to praise when getting into her office this morning. And yet, her mind would still go over that moment where she found him laughing with the little kids. 'Stop Sakura! Focus on the jog, let's clear our head.' She thought before continuing.

After her long jog, which by the way didn't help achieve its objective, she prepared herself quickly and went to her office. As she walked inside the building, many of her colleagues from other departments congratulate her for her achievement with the match. She proudly smiled and nodded her thanks as she got into the elevator and pressed her floor number. After a couple of minutes, the elevator rang signaling she had arrived at her destination. As soon as she got out, she froze.

She saw him in the office laughing and flirting with one of the secretaries. He was dressed up in a lime green business shirt with a royal blue tie and business shoes. There was no doubt he hardly ever used that type of clothing in his life. It wasn't that he looked bad but let's be honest he looked weird from her perspective.

He saw her standing in front of the elevator and smirked as she approached him with a face that only he knew well enough… She was annoyed.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Don't over excite yourself for seeing me here sweetheart, I'm meeting my father."

She scoffed as she crossed her hands on her chest and clearly stated, "You're father's office is not on this floor. I'm sure you know that. And, I can assure you there's nothing to be excited for."

"You think so?" he arrogantly asked.

She looked at him from head to toe before calmly coming back to his eyes and smirking, "That tie doesn't go with that shirt."

He looked at his tie and smiled back to her, "I bet I can prove you wrong. If you look around you'll find hundreds of girls looking at me with that dreaming haze they usually have when they look at me."

She scoffed, "Could you be a little bit more obnoxious?"

He turned towards the secretary who he had been openly flirting with before seeing Sakura and smiled, "Does this tie truly look bad on me?"

The secretary with a dreamy face on shook her head and batted her eyelashes at him, "Never."

Sakura tiredly took a deep breath, "Your father's office is three floors up. I wasn't aware Xian was doing any personal visits from his family in the office."

"This is not a personal visit. I have a business meeting with him."

She frowned, "Business meeting? You don't do business. You're a soccer player. Your agent does the business for you."

He proudly smiled, "Not in this case. This time I'm the one who will be doing the business." He looked at his watch and looked at her again. "Now, you'll have to excuse me but I need to leave before I'm late to my first business meeting."

She watched him arrogantly walked towards the elevator. She could see through his façade as she knew too well how he hated to talk business with his father. As he stood waiting for the elevator she saw him blanked for a minute. She wondered why he was nervous about this meeting but instead of asking she called him out. "Syaoran!" He turned his face towards her as she mimicked with her hands and said, "Lose the tie."

As the doors opened he smiled at her before getting in. He watched as the doors closed and took a deep breath. He was nervous. Having a meeting with a business tycoon was definitely one of the top things in his Hate-To-Do list… more so if it was a meeting with his father. There was always something very intimidating about speaking with his father about business. He was just too good doing it. Convincing him would take a lot of effort but he was going to do it. He had looked himself in the mirror that morning and knew he had to do this.

He looked at his reflection in the elevator doors and took a deep breath. Following Sakura's advice, he untied his tie and put it on his pocket. He unbuttoned the top button of his shirt as he heard the elevator signaling he had reached his destination. He walked out already feeling a little more at ease than the way he was before.

"Syaoran!" his father looked at him from his desk and motioned for him to seat in one of the chairs in front of him. "You're here. I was surprised when Stella told me you booked a meeting with me."

Syaoran took the offered seat. "I wanted to talk to you about something."

Xian frowned, "Advice?"

Syaoran shook his head, "I was told you owe a piece of land I want to buy."

Xian knowingly smiled at his son. "Let's do business then."

~o~

It was supposed to be cold tonight according to the news weather lady this morning, yet she had been wrong again. By the time they got into Li's house it was snowing with a capability of getting worst as the night went by. They stepped out of the car and walked quickly towards the house.

"This is some night to do a dinner here." Jun muttered as they waited on Wei to open the door.

"We're already here, baby." She softly said.

Wei opened the door and with a bow welcomed them into the house. He took the small bag from Jun's hand and gave it to one of the maids at his side. "I'll see to it that your belongings are prepared in your room Ms. Sakura."

She smiled at him, "Thanks Wei."

Jun and Sakura walked straight into the living room. There was absolutely nothing in it that didn't screamed luxury. From the stone wall fireplace to the modern white leather sofa you could sense Yelan took her time in planning her own decoration. She made sure they had the most magnificent décor that anyone could ever see inside her house. While her husband worked at his company and got the title of the most prestigious CEO in China, she made sure his life at home was up to his standards.

She looked around and found the girls sitting in the sofa which meant the guys were somewhere around the house.

"Sakura, I'm so glad you could make it." Yelan happily greeted. She walked towards Sakura and gave her a hug.

Sakura smiled and hugged her back. She kept taking notice of her surroundings. She had been here before, yet every time she came to visit she would find something new decorating the living room. And this time it wasn't different for she found a new red orchid arrangement with a black vase decorating the top of the fireplace. "We tried to get here a little earlier but Jun couldn't get out of the office before 6:30."

"Oh, nonsense, it's alright." She replied while hugging Jun as well.

As Xiefa had told her Xian was in the house as well. He walked from the corner of the room with his cup of brandy in his hands before reaching a hand to greet Jun before looking at her. "Do not leave without speaking with me."

She smiled and nodded. A couple of voices made her notice the guys walking down the stairs to her left. The three of them were all caught up in some conversation which probably involved soccer.

"Sakura!" Eriol smiled as he greeted her. "You're finally here!" he said as the three of them walked downstairs to greet them.

"Jun, this is Eriol and Kyu." she politely introduced them to her boyfriend.

"Ah, nice to meet you." at the mention of their names, Jun extended his hand to greet them.

Since Syaoran was the last one to come down the stairs, she introduced him last. "And this is Syaoran."

Jun got closer to Sakura and put an arm around her waist at the sight of Syaoran walking down the stairs towards them, gesture that didn't go unnoticed by Syaoran at all. She looked at Jun strangely but said nothing about it.

Although Syaoran wanted to get Jun's hands off her, even if he had to punch the guy to do so, he kept his composure as if nothing had happened. Throughout the years he had learned how to mask his emotions in a way that no one knew what he was thinking. Only his closest friends could catch the meaning behind his actions if he ever emitted such. He politely walked towards them and extended his hand towards him, "Jun, Sakura, it's good to have you at home for dinner."

Jun kept staring at Syaoran yet he politely as well shook his hand. There was something about Syaoran that threw him off. From the moment he first saw him at the hotel's elevator the way he had stared at Sakura left a bad impression on him. He didn't like how Syaoran looked at his girlfriend at all. If it was up to Jun, he would gladly marry her and take her away from the whole Li family and yet there was nothing he could do about it. She was just so headstrong when it came to her job.

"Dinner is served." Wei announced.

They nodded and walked towards the dining room. The table was set nicely and organized. The vegetables were orderly put in the corner, the side dishes on the middle and the meat on the other side. They all sat down and ate. Thankfully this dinner had gone like Yelan had wanted it to. Nothing dramatic, just a peaceful quiet family dinner with a few laughs here and there.

By the time they had finished dinner, Sakura went into the study to talk to Xian while the rest of them waited on her to be done to go out clubbing just like Xiefa had suggested. In the end, Xiefa had decided to stay with the excuse that she had to finish a job she was supposed to. After talking with Xian, Sakura walked out of his study and reunited with them. In her absence, they had decided to take two cars since the only ones going to the club would be them. 'Just like high school, except this time I'm with Jun'. The thought made her feel a little nostalgic yet she shook it off and walked outside with her boyfriend.

The club was exclusively reserved by Mark's agent for that night. Only his friends and the people he had invited for his birthday were allowed to be in there. They had entered the club a couple of minutes later and were searching for their friend to congratulate him on his birthday except Syaoran. He had already excused himself with the excuse of seeing an old friend of his by the bar. Needless to say his old friend was a blond woman who he had introduced to them as Katherine before leaving with her to the dance floor.

"Oh! I haven't been clubbing with you in such a long time baby!" Meiling excitedly said to Kyu while putting her arms around his neck.

He smirked while giving her a quick peck on the lips and disentangling her arms. He took her hand and walked towards the bar with the rest of them following behind. They asked the bartender to serve them some drinks. As Eriol looked to his side, he nudged Kyu so that he too looked as well. Mark was already there celebrating his birthday with two shots in front of him.

"Guys! You made it!" he loudly said. There was no doubt he had started celebrating a while ago as his steps weren't even steady when he went to greet them.

"Happy birthday man!" Eriol said laughing while giving him a half hug.

"Yeah thanks! Is not every day a man reaches 26!" he said semi drunk already. "Where's Syaoran?"

Kyu smirked and nodded to the dance floor.

Mark shook his head, "Figures…"

"Mark! You left your drinks man. You need to drink these!" Gee yelled from the bar. Mark turned and walked back to drink the last two shots that he had left pending while greeting them. He downed the two shots while releasing a scream of accomplishment after finishing the last one and started patting his friend's hands.

Kyu chuckled, "He'll definitely feel that tomorrow morning." He said.

Sakura wasn't paying too much attention to Mark's behavior. Instead her mind was indirectly focused on Syaoran dancing in the dance floor. She had recognized his little blond friend from the community event picture. It was so obvious how the woman wanted him for herself. She moved her body in a provocative way to have his entire attention to her. There was no doubt she was an expert getting whatever she wanted. Sakura stole a glance as she saw his hands pulled her waist closer to his body and he whispered something that made her laugh as they kept dancing pretty close to each other. She turned her face away from the scene.

"I'll be right back. I'm going to the bathroom." she smiled at her boyfriend and headed to the bathroom. She definitely needed a break from this night. In fact, she was so ready for it to be over.

"So, how long have you known Sakura?" Meiling asked him.

"About three years." Jun answered while drinking a little of his whiskey.

"And you've been dating for two?" Tomoyo asked.

He nodded. "Well, almost two."

"You know... I have to admit I never imagined she would end up dating a politician." Eriol commented.

He laughed, "Well, I'm not a politician yet, but I do consider myself lucky." He nodded towards Syaoran on the dance floor, "Is he always like this?"

"Like what?" Meiling asked.

The tone of her question suggested treading carefully around the answer but Jun didn't care if she was going to like his answer or not, "Don't get me wrong but the only thing he needs right now is a room."

Meiling smirked. "You could blame your girlfriend for that."

He lost his smile and quickly looked at Meiling. "What do you mean?"

"Meiling..." Eriol warned her to stop. His face was enough to hold any woman but he should have known it wouldn't work on his cousin.

She naughtily smiled, "After she left, he hasn't been the same."

"Enough! Let's go!" Kyu hold her hand and started walking.

"Where are we going?" she said making him stop.

"Dancing! For the first time I want to dance." He pulled her towards the dance floor without giving her the chance to say anything more.

Jun turned his face towards Eriol, "Did they have something going on in the past?"

Eriol sighed, "Look man, maybe it's better if you ask Sakura about it."

She returned from the bathroom several minutes later to find Jun on the bar next to Eriol and Tomoyo. She walked towards them until she was by his side again. She put her hands around his torso but got no reaction from him. She saw him drink down more than half the cup of whiskey he had on his hands and worried. His face gave notice that something had changed while she'd been away, "Are you okay?"

He put his face right next to her ear and said, "I'm ready to leave."

She looked at his face again but he didn't say anything else. The seriousness she found there was enough indication that something had definitely pissed him off. She nodded and took his hand. "Guys, we'll call it a night."

"What? You're leaving? But the night is just starting!" Tomoyo whined.

Sakura smiled, "I'm tired and we're just ready to call it a night. We'll take a cab to get back."

Eriol nodded. "Well then, I guess we'll see you at the house."

Sakura nodded and smiled. She took her purse with one hand and took Jun's hand with the other to walk outside. The valet called for a cab on the side. After getting in she gave the Li residence address to the driver and waited for Jun to get in on the other side.

The ride to the house was silent. She looked out the window at the falling snow which was coming down a little harder by now and the passing trees that were illuminated by the car lights. There was something bothering him that much was obvious, but she couldn't figure out what it was. She started running through the events of tonight on her mind to try and figure out what had put him in this mood. They were spending the night alright, they were having fun, and then suddenly a trip to the bathroom turned their night upside down so she deducted that he must have heard something.

They reached the house and the cab stop right in front of it. Without saying much he got out of the car and walked inside the house. She looked at him from the car. There was no doubt in her mind that tonight they would probably fight. She paid the cab driver and followed him directly into the room. She closed the door after getting inside their room and stared at him.

"You want to tell me what's bothering you?" she wouldn't dare walking towards him. From the door she watched him take off his watch as he did every night and then turned towards her.

"How do you know Li?"

"I told you, we studied together in Tomoeda High."

"Was that all?"

She stared at his eyes. There was something intimidating about the way he was acting. His questions led her to believe that he probably had found out about her relationship with Syaoran in the past. She turned her face away took a deep breath. "We dated back then."

"Dated?" he incredulously asked. "That guy doesn't date Sakura."

"He wasn't always like that Jun."

"How long did you dated for?"

She tiredly sighed and ran her hands through her hair like she always did whenever she wanted to avoid something, "Why does this even matter Jun? It was seven years ago."

"How long?" he demanded.

"Three years."

"And you think this wasn't important to mention it to me? Where you even planning on telling me?"

She sighed and walked towards the dresser. She took her jewelry off, "I frankly didn't see the point. It happened seven years ago. We dated, we broke up, we moved on."

"Is that what you think? That he moved on? Do you think I don't notice the way he looks at you?"

She looked at him through the mirror's reflection, "Please... he looks at every woman that walks in front of him the same way."

He shook his head. "At first I thought I was imagining things, but now I know why. Are you having an affair with him?"

"What?" she stood up immediately turned around and looked at him.

"Why else would you try to hide this from me?"

By now they had both raised their voice more than normal yet they still weren't yelling at each other. "I never hide this from you. You never asked before and I never indulged on it."

"So you didn't think it was important to mention that your ex-boyfriend was the one that invited you to dinner tonight?"

"Jun, he didn't invited me, Xiefa did as a family dinner. Her mother wanted me here as well" She tiredly sighed and lowered her voice once again. She hated when things got out of control. "You are imagining things. There is nothing going on between us."

"I don't want to stay here anymore." He took out his bag and started to fill it up with the little stuff they had brought to stay the night.

She hated when he was like this. "This is why I didn't tell you, because I knew you would get like this. Do you not trust me?"

"You were his girlfriend Sakura, and you didn't even care to mention it to me. Now you're asking me if I don't trust you?" He stopped what he was doing to look at her, "I don't trust him. Pack your things, we're leaving."

She looked at him packing and sighed. She could have snapped back at him, tell him to go back to the city alone if that's what he wanted to do. There were so many things she could have said but the thought of having to spend time in this house while Syaoran exhibited himself with his little blonde friend diminish any words she could say to her boyfriend in order to stay so she decided to start packing as well. Perhaps leaving was for the best.

As they reached the first floor, the door opened. She cursed internally at the sight of Syaoran coming in through the door. She noticed he came alone as the rest of the group followed behind him. He looked at her and frowned, but when he saw Jun and the bag he had on his hand he narrowed his eyes. "Are you not aware of the weather tonight? No one should be driving in this snow." Syaoran seriously said.

"Don't tell me what I can or can't do." Jun venomously told him.

"Jun!" Sakura was about to tell him something but his look made her hold what she was about to say. She noticed from the corner of her eyes that Syaoran tensed up. If this continued the way it was going there was no doubt in her head that Syaoran would probably start a fight with Jun on his own house.

Syaoran was pissed beyond words but he held his anger under control. He was sure that if Jun decided to put Sakura's life at risk he would definitely take matters into his own hands. There was no way he would let her get out of the house tonight. They had barely made it in because they left a couple of minutes after they had left, but there was no way of driving in this weather by now.

"No one is going anywhere."

Sakura looked towards her right and felt relieved to find Xian walking towards them with a cup on hand. "The news weather report just came on TV. They're urging people not to drive because of the heavy snow. So, everyone should stay here tonight."

"We are not staying." Jun seriously looked at Xian taking Sakura's hand.

If Syaoran's eyes were intimidating whenever he was pissed, his father's doubled the intensity. "Son, these are no conditions to be driving right now."

He venomously said, "I am not your son."

"No one is leaving this house tonight whether you like it or not." Xian decisively said. "I suggest you pick your room. You may leave tomorrow after the weather clears up." He swallowed the last bit of his brandy and walked passed them towards his study.

"Wei can you please take our bags upstairs?" Sakura politely asked. "Thank you." She waited for Wei to take their bags right upstairs again. "Come on." She said to her boyfriend before turning towards the stairs and going towards their room.

He gave Syaoran one last nasty look before closely following her back upstairs towards their room.

**Author's Note:** Well, here's chapter 4! Wow… when I began writing it I didn't know I could write this much in a chapter. Hahaha I hope is not too long for you guys! I thank all the people who took some time to review chapter 3. It feels good to know that you like this story as much as I am enjoying writing it. Let me know what you think about this chapter. Do you guys think it's too long? Please read and review! Thanks!


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